Dan Patrick Says Texas 'Turned Purple' After Democrats Sweep Statewide Races

On Thursday, on his own podcast, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said something few Texas Republicans would have said aloud a year ago: the state, in his words, has "turned purple." Patrick, a Republican on his way out of office, was talking about an election in which Democrats won every statewide race in Texas.

The losses were broad. Patrick himself ran for re-election and lost to Democrat Vikki Goodwin. Gov. Greg Abbott, seeking a fourth term, lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Attorney General Ken Paxton, running for U.S. Senate, was beaten by Democrat James Talarico. The sweep also flipped the governor's office, a U.S. Senate seat and the Texas House. It ended decades of Republican control of contests that had long been treated as safe for the party, and it left Sen. Ted Cruz as the only Republican still holding statewide elected office.

Others had begun calling Texas a blue state. Patrick stopped short of that. He said Democrats turned out more of their own voters than Republicans did, but that independents made the real difference: voters who skip party primaries and show up only for general elections. Republicans, he said, have won those voters in almost every recent contest, and this time they did not. He pointed to the swings in recent cycles. Four years ago, he said, almost all of them backed Abbott, himself and other Republicans. Two years ago they went almost entirely for the president. Whether they stay with Democrats, he said, is an open question, and he described them as voters who change their minds from one election to the next depending on how they feel about who is in charge.

Patrick also said the party lost ground in places and among groups it had gained in 2024, naming the Rio Grande Valley and young voters. He framed the result as part of a national wave that reached from Washington down to Texas and other states where Republicans lost. In that, he joined President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other party leaders, who have blamed the poor showing mainly on voter frustration over affordability and the Iran war, which has pushed up fuel prices.

The numbers on gas give that explanation some footing. AAA put the national average at $3.91 a gallon on Thursday, against $3.08 a year earlier, a difference of about 83 cents. Patrick described voters who told pollsters and campaigners they could not feed their families, pay their bills or fill the tank of a car or truck. "It was almost to the point where, no matter what our message was, it didn't matter," he said, adding that he understood the mood. Voters may agree with Republicans on cultural or policy questions, he said, but that does not mean they will vote for them if they can't afford groceries.

He did not distance himself from the president over the war. Patrick said he fully supports Trump's decision to attack Iran, arguing that if the intelligence about an Iranian nuclear weapon was right, inaction could have meant a world war or an Israel destroyed. He still conceded that the conflict has had a real effect on fuel costs and, by extension, on the vote.

Looking ahead, Patrick said Texas is not a blue state, but that Republicans will have to work hard to keep it from becoming one in 2028, 2030 and 2032. His own phrasing was careful: Texas has turned purple "for this moment." Whether independents drift back or settle with Democrats is the question the next few election cycles will answer.