Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico has won his race over Ken Paxton, swiping away a long held Republican seat and driving a dagger into GOP hopes of keeping control of the chamber.
Talarico becomes the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, a year before Talarico was born.
He is also the first Democrat to win any statewide race in Texas since 1994 and the victory is already sending shockwaves across the country.
With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority, Democrats needed to flip four seats to take the chamber, and party strategists had long counted Texas as a reach.
But Talarico helped create and benefit from the perfect storm consuming Republicans.
Voters who backed Talarico told the Daily Mail they were sick of 'corruption,' a word they associated with the Democrat's rival, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
He benefited from strong turnout from Democrats, independents and some Republicans who either switched parties or refused to vote for Paxton.
At Talarico's election night headquarters at downtown Austin's the mood was electric.
Supporters listened to live bands, sipped Love Street Blonde tallboys and cheered as the House of Representatives flipped to Democratic control and both Talarico and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Gina Hinojosa led their Republican opponents.
Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico addresses a crowd at a rally in Austin Monday night. On Tuesday, voters elected him the first US senator to represent Texas since 1988
Supporters of Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico react at the blue wave of win the party was experiencing
It was the most expensive Senate race in US history. And it didn't have to be.
Trump meddled in the race in May, telling MAGA voters to choose Paxton over incumbent Senator John Cornyn as they faced off in a Republican primary runoff, which was just one week away.
With Trump's endorsement, Paxton easily won. Senate Republicans saw this coming.
Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, warned that 'we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee.'
Before the race was officially called, Cornyn congratulated Talarico on social media.
'The voters have spoken, and I want to extend my congratulations to James Talarico on his election to the U.S. Senate,' Cornyn posted to X. 'I look forward to meeting him and offering my assistance with his transition as he prepares to serve Texans in the U.S. Senate.'
At that point in the night, Talarico was 18 points ahead of Paxton.
On the Democratic side, voters chose the candidate who they thought had more bipartisan appeal, Talarico, over firebrand US Representative Jasmine Crockett, who entered the Senate race in December after the GOP-led legislature gerrymandered her House district.
Supporters of Texas Senate Democratic hopeful James Talarico cheer as Democrats won big Tuesday night in the midterm election
Democratic Senate hopeful, state House Representative James Talarico, speaks to a crowd in Dallas in the closing days of the campaign
President Donald Trump (left) stands alongside Texas Republican Senate hopeful, Attorney General Ken Paxton (right), during a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, last Tuesday
The race had the makings to be a repeat of the 2017 Senate special election in Alabama, where a deeply flawed Republican candidate, Roy Moore, lost to a Democrat, former Senator Doug Jones, in a very red state.
But Democrats also worried it could be an echo of the heartbreak they experienced in 2018 when Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke came so close – 2.6 percent away – from unseating Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
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Unlike Moore in Alabama, who was facing accusations of trying to date teenage girls when he was in his 30s which he denied, Paxton's personal scandals involved two alleged affairs and a high-profile 'Biblical' divorce announcement from his wife, Texas State Senator Angela Paxton.
Angela Paxton later backed the 'Republican ticket,' but didn't use her estranged husband's name.
Paxton's campaign was also hobbled by a bevy of corruption charges, including a 2023 impeachment courtesy of members of his own party. Paxton was acquitted by the Texas state Senate.
Talarico blasted Paxton's record in a series of final ads.
'Ken Paxton says I don't have his experience. And he's right,' the 37-year-old state representative said. 'I've never been indicted for fraud. I've never been reported to the FBI for bribery. I've never been impeached by my own party. And I've never given a sweetheart deal to a pedophile.'
Paxton and Republicans used some of Talarico's questionable statements – including that God is 'non-binary' – and support for trans rights to weigh him down with a wedge issue that was still motivating Texas voters.
President Donald Trump nicknamed Democrat James Talarico 'Talafreako,' which his campaign embraced and started using to sell T-shirts
Supporters at a rally headlined by President Donald Trump in for GOP Senate hopeful Ken Paxton sported the latest in MAGA fashion
President Donald Trump pauses his speech in Lubbock, Texas, to play a video critical of Democratic Senate nominee, state Representative James Talarico
Talarico, a seminary student, admitted the non-binary quip was him trying to be 'provocative.'
On the ground in Jefferson County, Texas, the Daily Mail found several Republicans who said they were voting for Paxton – despite his shortcomings – due to Talarico's support for trans people.
'I actually used to be middle of the road, and when all of this trans stuff started and all of this push for men to be able to go in women's restrooms and all of this furry stuff that's happening. I mean, it goes on and on and on, and I'm so far right now, I don't see a way coming back,' remarked 63-year-old Karan Berman of Beaumont, who labeled Talarico 'a little weirdo.'
Caye Wright, a 64-year-old registered nurse from Nome, Texas, who spoke to the Daily Mail from the window of her pick-up truck after she voted early in China, Texas, explained that as a conservative Paxton was her only choice.
'I'm probably going to step on toes here, but like I said, I am conservative, I don't like the things about the trans [people] I don't feel like that should be in our political space,' she said.
Wright admitted, however: 'I wish I had someone a little bit more solid to vote for.'
Paxton also labeled Talarico 'low T' – for low testosterone – and pushed that he was a 'vegan,' even though the Democrat eats meat. Talarico had previously talked about eating less meat to be environmentally conscious.
Trump traveled to Texas four times during the final campaign stretch.
Republican Senate hopeful, Attorney General Ken Paxton (left) shakes the hand of a young attendee at a rally last week with President Donald Trump in Lubbock, Texas
Supporters of Democratic candidates for governor, state Representative Gina Hinojosa, and for Senate, state Representative James Talarico, hold up masks at a rally for Talarico in Dallas
During his rallies, the President rehashed a disproven conspiracy theory that Talarico had left the campaign trail to seek mental health treatment in Ohio.
Trump said he suspected something different had happened.
'Now, I happen to think he was food poisoned by meat because he can't stand it,' Trump claimed at his rally in Corpus Christi.
At his final appearance in Texas, Trump bombastically pushed that Talarico believed that Jesus supported sex changes.
'Not only did Talafreako state that God is transgender, he actually said that if Jesus Christ himself came and visited the Texas legislature, Jesus would be promoting sex changes for little children,' Trump declared onstage in Lubbock last Tuesday night.
Still, some Talarico supporters told the Daily Mail that they believed certain Republicans would join them in supporting the Democrat at the ballot box – even if they're not public about it.
Among those convinced was former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, who left his party and his home state of Illinois and relocated to Texas.
'I don't think any Republican will admit that they're going to be a crossover voter, but in that privacy of the ballot box, I think there will be a lot,' Kinzinger told the Daily Mail at a Talarico event in Houston.
Trump carried the state by 14 points just two years ago. Before Talarico, Republicans had won 13 straight Senate races in Texas, ten of them by double digits.
Beto O'Rourke came closest, losing to Ted Cruz by 2.6 points in 2018, and Colin Allred lost to Cruz by 8.5 points in 2024.
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