Texans kicks off midterms Tuesday with names like Abbott, Bush, Cuellar, O'Rourke, Paxton on ticket

Texans will begin the 2022 midterm cycle Tuesday as they vote in primary elections that will determine candidates for several key races up and down ballot in November. 

The three big races to watch are the GOP gubernatorial primary, the attorney general contest, and 28th Congressional District match in which Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar faces a 28-year-old progressive immigration attorney.

Several GOP challengers are looking to unseat Gov. Greg Abbott, who is running for a third term.

Among Abbott's challengers are former Florida Rep. Allen West, who's also chairman of the state GOP party, and former state Sen. Don Huffines.

Abbott has the endorsement of former President Trump.

Whoever wins, with Abbott the frontrunner, will likely face former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who failed to unseat  GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, then ran an unsuccessful 2020 Democratic presidential campaign.

The GOP primary for state attorney general has shaped up as a contest between incumbent Ken Paxton, who is under indictment for various financial crimes, Rep. Louie Gohmert, who has a close relationship with Trump (though Paxton has his endorsement), former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, and George P. Bush (son of GOP politician Jeb Bush), the state's land commissioner.

Cuellar, considered a political staple in the Lone Star state, faces Jessica Cisneros, a young immigration attorney who has seized on a recent FBI probe into Cuellar that involved a recent raid of his home.

She lost to Cisneros by four points in 2020 and now has the endorsement of progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Among members of his own party, Cuellar is known as a conservative Democrat and is currently the only House Democrat who opposes expanded access to abortion.