Democrat James Talarico wins Texas Senate seat, first Democratic win there since 1988

The result

Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race on Tuesday, 3 November, in the midterm elections. The last Democrat to win a Senate seat in Texas was Lloyd Bentsen, elected in 1988, so Talarico is the first member of his party to win a Texas Senate race in 38 years. Talarico, 37, is a former teacher who was elected to the Texas House in 2018 and sits in the state legislature in Austin. In the governor's race, Democratic state representative Gina Hinojosa also won, and she will become the first Hispanic governor of Texas. The New York Times described the two wins as ending decades of Republican dominance in the state, and reports on the result were published on 4 November.

Background to the race

Talarico is a Presbyterian seminarian and former teacher from Round Rock who was little known in Texas before he launched his campaign in September 2025. Reporting credits his focus on faith, and his outreach to independent and Republican voters, with building support both in Texas and nationally. He ran against Paxton, the state's attorney general, who was entangled in a series of controversies, including a divorce filing by his wife that cited biblical grounds. Paxton was charged with securities fraud in 2015 and was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 before the state Senate acquitted him. In 2024 he agreed with prosecutors to pay restitution to victims in the fraud case, which avoided a trial.

Reactions and the wider picture

Donald Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024. The result is read as a sign of rejection of his agenda in some areas that have traditionally been Republican strongholds. Former US senator Kay Bailey Hutchison called the outcome a surprise, according to a report citing SkyNews. Joe Straus, a former Texas House speaker and moderate Republican, said Texans had not seen anything like it in decades, as Politico reported. Before the vote, many Democrats believed Talarico could beat Paxton.

Victory night

Talarico celebrated at a Whataburger, a Texas fast-food chain founded in 1950, where he was photographed with Hinojosa. He posted the picture on Facebook with a caption describing the restaurant as the first stop after his victory. In his victory speech he cited the Bible's story of David and Goliath and told the state's mega-donors that power belongs to the people. He said the richest and most powerful men in the world and Washington's political elite had opposed him, but that the people of Texas had been his sling. The post drew many comments from users, several of whom wrote about the image of the two Democrats sharing drinks at a fast-food table.