Texas voters elected Democrat James Talarico to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, rejecting Republican Ken Paxton. Talarico is the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate seat since 1988.
Paxton, who defeated sitting Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary runoff, was behind Talarico by 59.4% to 39% when the race was called. Several major outlets had declared Talarico the winner.
Paxton had President Donald Trump’s endorsement, but he struggled in several counties where Trump had won strong support in 2024, including Collin, Denton, Jefferson and Webb. Paxton’s campaign was also shadowed by a series of scandals.
A White House official told Fox News that candidate quality matters, adding that Trump had done a better job promoting many candidates than they had done promoting themselves.
The result followed a closely watched campaign in which some recent polls had Talarico ahead by as much as seven points.
Talarico’s ally, state Representative Gina Hinojosa, also won the governor’s race. According to NBC News, Talarico captured most early in-person and mail-in votes.
On the campaign trail, Talarico presented himself as a moderate. He appeared with meat after previously speaking out about animal welfare and meat’s effect on climate change. He also softened some of his past theological comments, including the statement that “God is nonbinary,” and described himself as a “border security Democrat.” He had, however, voted against several border and immigration security measures.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, called Talarico the “first transgender Senate candidate.” Talarico nevertheless won over voters who may have been persuaded by his campaign shift, as well as members of the Bush family.
The Texas Senate contest was the most expensive non-presidential race on record. More than $407 million was reportedly spent on advertising and ad reservations in the general election. Republicans spent $140.7 million more than Democrats, but Paxton still lost.
