# Texas turns blue as James Talarico humiliates scandal-plagued Ken Paxton in historic Senate upset

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/texas-turns-blue-as-james-talarico-humiliates-scandal-plagued-ken-paxton-in-historic-senate-upset/
- Published: 2026-11-04T04:16:42+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T13:55:07+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16243623/Texas-Senate-race-Talarico-Paxton.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- James Talarico won Texas’s Senate race against Ken Paxton.
- The victory ended a 38-year gap for Democrats in the state’s Senate delegation.
- Democrat Gina Hinojosa also defeated Governor Greg Abbott.

## Summary

James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in Texas’s Senate race, marking the first time in 38 years that a Democrat has been elected to represent the state in the Senate. The result was part of a wider Democratic surge and a setback for Donald Trump, who had backed Paxton in the Republican primary.

With 84 per cent of votes counted, Talarico led by 12 percentage points; the race was described as the most expensive Senate contest in US history. Elon Musk spent more than $150 million trying to defeat him, while Democrats had selected Talarico over Jasmine Crockett, viewed as the more bipartisan candidate. The article also reports that Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.