James Talarico flips Texas Senate seat in historic Democratic win

Texas will send a Democrat to the US Senate for the first time since 1988 after James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday.

Talarico, a former schoolteacher and Texas state legislator, flipped a seat in a state Republicans have treated as reliable territory for decades. Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, had Trump’s endorsement in the Republican primary over Senator John Cornyn and campaigned alongside the president during the general election.

The number that matters: More than $500 million was spent on the race, making it the most expensive US Senate contest in history. Elon Musk supplied a large share of the money behind Paxton, though reports differ on the total: the BBC put it at $158 million through a pro-Paxton super PAC, while Al Jazeera reported at least $212 million supporting him. Texas voters were given no shortage of advertisements. They picked the former teacher.

Why it matters: Talarico made rising living costs under Republican leadership central to his campaign. His victory ends a 38-year Democratic drought in Texas Senate races and delivers a sharp defeat to Trump, who made multiple campaign stops in the state as Republicans worked to hold the seat.

Paxton entered the race with plenty of name recognition and a long record of political scandal. The Texas House impeached him in 2023 over corruption accusations, and the state Senate later acquitted him. He also faced federal fraud charges that were later dismissed, according to the BBC.

Zoom out: The Senate result was part of a broader Democratic night in Texas. The BBC and Al Jazeera reported that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott, with Al Jazeera reporting that she will become the state's first Latino governor.

The open question is whether Texas Democrats can turn one extraordinary election night into a durable statewide coalition.