Democrat James Talarico Projected to Win Texas Senate Race, Flipping Seat After 33 Years
Decision Desk HQ projects James Talarico will become Texas’ first Democratic senator in decades after a race shaped by record turnout and heavy outside spending.
- On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Democrat James Talarico held an early lead over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the race for Texas' open U.S. Senate seat as the first results began coming in.
- The most expensive non-presidential race in U.S. history, with $573.2 million in ad spending, could determine control of the Senate through the end of President Donald Trump's second term.
- More than 7.7 million Texans voted early, a 40.5% turnout rate reflecting efforts to break a three-decade streak of Democratic losses in statewide Texas elections.
- National GOP groups poured north of $281 million into an advertising blitz supporting Paxton, whom President Trump endorsed earlier this year to replace retiring Sen. John Cornyn.
- With most Election Day ballots still uncounted, the race remains too close to call as Democrats need to gain four seats nationwide to shift control of the upper chamber from Republicans.
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232 Articles
Who Is James Talarico? The Teacher Turned Seminarian Who Defeated Ken Paxton in Texas Senate Showdown
James Talarico has defeated Republican Ken Paxton in Texas' US Senate election, turning a campaign focused on affordability and tackling political corruption. The 37-year-old state legislator and former teacher won the race to succeed Republican Senator John Cornyn. The result makes him the first Democrat elected to a Texas US Senate seat since 1988, transforming his profile from a prominent state lawmaker into a national political figure. But b…
The seminarian took him away from Ken Paxton in the mid-term elections, taking an additional seat for the Democrats to the upper house of Congress.
Democrat James Talarico took over Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas U.S. Senate elections, winning a historic victory for his party in one of the country's leading conservative bastions, according to projections released after Tuesday's legislative elections.With this result, Talarico becomes the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate election in 38 years.The last had been Lloyd Bentsen, elected in 1988.The victory represents an important advance…
Talarico wins Texas Senate race, ending a three-decade drought for Democrats | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
James Talarico, a 37-year-old Democratic state legislator, has won the race to become the next senator from Texas, The Associated Press said Tuesday. He defeated a scandal-plagued Republican to end a three-decade drought for Democrats in one of the nation’s largest states.
Democratic Party candidate James Talarico has won the U.S. Senate elections by the state of Texas, imposing Republican Party candidate Ken Paxton on the mid-term election held on Tuesday, according to the first projections of a night that is already a future Democratic Congress.
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