After three decades of Republican control, democrat james talarico wins texas senate seat

A historic Texas result

Talarico, a four-term state lawmaker from Austin, defeated Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Associated Press called the race for Talarico, whose win breaks the GOP’s three-decade statewide monopoly in Texas.

Trump’s role in the race

Trump and allies spent millions of dollars supporting Paxton, and Trump attacked Talarico at campaign rallies around the country. The president’s backing helped Paxton win the Republican nomination over incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff.

The article says Trump’s declining popularity may have hurt Paxton. Paxton had voiced concern after Trump campaigned for him at the Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas in September.

Campaign strengths and scrutiny

Talarico tied or led Paxton in most statewide polls from midsummer onward and held a fundraising lead for much of the year. Conservative super PACs aligned with Paxton countered with substantial advertising in the campaign’s final two months.

Paxton also faced scrutiny over allegations of corruption in office. The Texas House impeached him in 2023, and the Texas Senate later acquitted him; he was also going through a divorce from state Sen. Angela Paxton amid alleged marital infidelities.

Talarico’s profile and priorities

Talarico first drew attention in Texas in 2018, when he flipped a heavily Republican state House district that had backed Donald Trump for president two years earlier. A former middle school teacher in San Antonio and a Presbyterian seminarian, he emphasized education and opposed efforts to bring religion into public schools.

He was a prominent opponent of a law requiring an explicitly Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Multiple federal lawsuits now challenge that law.

An interview on The Joe Rogan Experience in July 2025 and a February 2026 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert raised his national profile. CBS did not air the latter interview; it later spread widely on YouTube and helped fuel fundraising, according to the article.