James Talarico Defeats Ken Paxton to Win Texas Senate Seat — First Democrat Since 1988

Democrat James Talarico won Texas’ U.S. Senate race on Nov. 3, defeating Republican Ken Paxton and becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988. According to the Texas Secretary of State, with 100% of polling locations reporting, Talarico received 5,444,982 votes to Paxton’s 4,249,373. Libertarian Ted Brown received 190,237 votes, and write-in candidates also drew votes.

Paxton, the Texas attorney general, conceded on election night. “I want to start off by congratulating James Talarico … I will be praying for him,” he said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The seat had been held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, but Cornyn was not on the general-election ballot after losing the Republican primary runoff to Paxton on May 26. Paxton, first elected statewide in 2014, entered the Senate race after years of legal and political controversy, including being impeached by the Texas House in 2023 and acquitted by the Texas Senate.

Talarico, a Texas state representative from the Austin area and a former middle-school language-arts teacher, emerged as the Democrat who ended one of the longest statewide losing streaks in Texas politics. In his victory speech, he said, “We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas. We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love,” according to The Washington Post.

A statewide live tracker compiled from county reports put Talarico at 55.1% and Paxton at 43.0%, underscoring the size of his victory. The race was one of the country’s most expensive Senate contests, with heavy spending from the campaigns and outside groups.

The result also carried national consequences, though its biggest significance was in Texas. Talarico’s win was one of the seat flips that helped Democrats secure control of the U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterm elections.

For Texas, the outcome marked a striking break with recent political history. No Democrat had been elected to the U.S. Senate from the state since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, and Republicans had dominated statewide federal races for decades. By defeating Paxton, Talarico not only flipped a Senate seat but also ended that long Republican run in one of the nation’s most closely watched contests.