Talarico defeats Paxton to take Texas Senate seat

Austin, Texas: Democratic state Rep. James Talarico won the U.S. Senate race in Texas on Tuesday, according to an Associated Press call. The result ends a 30 year streak of Republican victories for statewide offices in the state.

Talarico defeated Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton in a contest that drew heavy national attention and substantial spending. The loss marks the first time a Republican has lost a Texas Senate seat since the 1990s.

Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, had held political office since winning a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 2002. He secured the Republican nomination this year by defeating incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff. Trump provided a last minute endorsement that helped Paxton win that primary.

However, the president's declining approval ratings may have weighed on Paxton's general election campaign. The attorney general expressed concern about this dynamic after Trump campaigned for him at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas in September.

Talarico, a four term state lawmaker, led or tied Paxton in most statewide polls beginning in midsummer. He also raised more money than his opponent for most of the year. Conservative super PACs supporting Paxton spent heavily on advertising in the final two months to close that gap.

Talarico first gained statewide recognition in 2018 when he won a heavily Republican state House district. A former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, he focused his campaign on education. He strongly opposed a law requiring public schools to display an explicitly Protestant translation of the Ten Commandments, a measure now facing multiple federal lawsuits.

His national profile rose after a July 2025 interview on The Joe Rogan Experience and a February 2026 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. CBS initially declined to broadcast the latter interview under pressure from the Trump administration through the Federal Communications Commission, but the clip later spread widely on YouTube. That visibility helped Talarico raise significant funds. Paxton also faced questions regarding his record during a 2023 impeachment process, where the Texas House voted to impeach him and the Texas Senate acquitted him, as well as his ongoing divorce from state Sen. Angela Paxton.