James Talarico, the Democrat who ended his party's three-decade losing streak in Texas statewide races, opened his victory speech on Tuesday night with five words that summed up the night for his supporters: "We just took back Texas!"
The 37-year-old state legislator, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to an Associated Press projection. He will become Texas' first Democratic U.S. senator since 1993, replacing Sen. John Cornyn, who lost a bruising Republican primary to Paxton.
The race drew heavy outside spending, including from Elon Musk, who backed Paxton. Talarico, who railed against billionaires throughout the campaign, turned that into his first message of the night: "We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas."
"Not left versus right"
Speaking from behind a podium that read "Love Thy Neighbor," Talarico framed his win as a rejection of the politics of division. "The real fight in this country is not left versus right; it is top versus bottom," he said. "The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and their power." Pointing to "every billionaire-funded attack ad" in the race, he said the powerful "divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, by culture, so we don't notice that they are picking our pockets."
Paxton's campaign had been dogged by his legal and ethical troubles, including a federal corruption investigation that ended without charges and his impeachment by the Texas House, followed by acquittal in the state Senate. Talarico cast his upset in biblical terms: "Tonight, we defeated Goliath!"
A blue Texas
Texas Democrats also captured the governor's mansion, where state Rep. Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott, who was seeking a fourth term. Hinojosa will be Texas' first Latina governor and the first Democrat to win the office since 1990. As the results came in, NBC News' election map turned Texas blue in a state Trump carried by double digits in 2024.
The Texas results were part of a national wave that gave Democrats control of both chambers of Congress. When he is sworn in in January, Talarico will also become the youngest member of the Senate.
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