In a stunning political upset, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton to win a US Senate seat in Texas on Wednesday, handing Democrats their first statewide victory in the state since 1988 and breaking a Republican hold that has lasted more than 30 years.
Democrat Gina Hinojosa was elected Texas governor ending more than three decades of Republican control by defeating incumbent Greg Abbott. The victory propels the former underdog into the national spotlight as leader of the country's largest traditionally Republican state.
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Hinojosa is set to become Texas' first Latina governor and the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards in the 1990s. Her win unseats one of the Republican Party's most prominent governors and a key ally of President Donald Trump, potentially reinforcing perceptions of Texas as an increasingly competitive political battleground.
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Gina Hinojosa: the first Democratic Governor of Texas in 36 years. https://t.co/tJngPLqPUz
— Texas Democratic Party (@texasdemocrats) November 4, 2026
The result marks a significant milestone for Democrats, who have long argued that the state's demographic changes would eventually reshape its political landscape. It also elevates Hinojosa, a 52-year-old state legislator representing an Austin-based district since 2017, to national prominence despite receiving limited support from the national Democratic establishment during her campaign.
Talarico, 37, a state legislator, former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, capitalised on voter frustration during the middle of President Donald Trump's second term. The result not only rebuffed Trump's endorsed candidate but also raised fresh questions about Republican strength in traditionally safe territory, while potentially putting the party's Senate majority at risk.
Talarico will become the Senate's youngest member and replace longtime Sen. John Cornyn, 74, who lost a bruising GOP primary to the scandal-plagued Paxton, whose nomination bolstered Talarico's appeal to Republican and independent voters.
The heated campaign in Texas, one of the most expensive of the midterms, became partly a referendum on Paxton's legal, personal and ethical troubles that have shadowed much of his three terms as the state's attorney general. That included a federal corruption investigation, which did not result in charges, and impeachment by his own party in the Texas House over accusations of abusing his office to help a political donor. He was later acquitted in the state Senate.
For Republicans, whose governance in Texas has seen the rollback of abortion rights and offered the Trump administration a blueprint for immigration crackdowns, the defeat to a Democrat who once ran as a proud Austin progressive threatens to deepen partisan infighting.
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