On a Tuesday night that carried the weight of a long political season, the Fox News Decision Desk called the Texas Senate race for James Talarico, a Democratic state representative, shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern. The result returns a Senate seat from Texas to Democratic hands for the first time in nearly four decades, and it does so against a candidate the president had personally chosen. It is the kind of outcome that reminds observers how little a single endorsement or a torrent of money can settle when a party's own members have grown reluctant to stand behind its nominee.
Trump's Paxton Gamble Backfires as Democrat Talarico Wins Texas Senate Seat in Historic Upset
Hundreds of millions of dollars was not enough to overcome the insurgent Talarico
Mark
Why is this result such a big deal beyond one Senate seat?
Mimi
Texas hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly four decades. And it happened to a candidate Trump personally picked over an incumbent.
Mark
How much did Trump's backing matter in the end?
Mimi
He visited nearly every week, and MAGA Inc. and national Republicans put in hundreds of millions. Paxton's campaign still struggled.
Luke
Careful with that. The spending is described as hundreds of millions in total, not itemized. We don't know how much went to this race versus the broader effort.
Mark
What was the case against Paxton?
Mimi
Talarico pointed to corruption allegations, including impeachment by the Texas House. The Texas Senate acquitted him, which matters.
Luke
Right, so the allegations are allegations. The acquittal is part of the record too.
Mark
And Cornyn's role?
Mimi
He lost the primary and said he wouldn't campaign for Paxton. He warned that "Judgment Day is coming" for him.
Luke
Worth noting we have no vote totals here, and the call is a Fox News Decision Desk projection. Whether Cornyn's absence changed the margin isn't something this reporting can show.
Mark
So what can we say about the larger picture?
Mimi
Democrats were projected to take the House, and Abbott was projected to lose to Hinojosa. It was a bad night for Republicans broadly.
O Pulso
- Trump's backing of Ken Paxton over longtime incumbent John Cornyn set off a bitter primary that split the Texas GOP before the general election even began.
- Hundreds of millions of dollars from MAGA Inc. and national Republicans poured into a campaign that still struggled under impeachment and corruption allegations.
- Talarico pressed his case against Paxton's fitness for office, invoking the seat's storied history of Lyndon Johnson and Sam Houston, while Republicans answered with attacks on his ideology and personal image.
- Cornyn refused to campaign for Paxton and warned that 'Judgment Day is coming,' leaving a visible rift at the heart of the party's Texas effort.
- The Senate loss landed alongside projected Democratic control of the House and a feared defeat for Gov. Greg Abbott, signaling a rough night for Republicans across the state and nation.
On a Tuesday night that carried the weight of a long political season, the Fox News Decision Desk called the Texas Senate race for James Talarico, a Democratic state representative, shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern. The result returns a Senate seat from Texas to Democratic hands for the first time in nearly four decades, and it does so against a candidate the president had personally chosen. It is the kind of outcome that reminds observers how little a single endorsement or a torrent of money can settle when a party's own members have grown reluctant to stand behind its nominee.
Shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the Fox News Decision Desk called the Texas Senate race for James Talarico, a Democratic state representative. It gave Democrats a Texas Senate seat for the first time in nearly four decades, and it defeated a candidate the president had personally pushed forward.
That candidate was Ken Paxton, the state attorney general and a close ally of Donald Trump. Trump had backed Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, even though many Republicans in Washington believed Cornyn was the stronger choice. The party was already struggling in a difficult midterm climate.
The effort behind Paxton was enormous. Trump campaigned in Texas repeatedly, and hundreds of millions of dollars flowed from his political operation and national Republicans. Still, the campaign never found its footing. Talarico presented himself as a moderate focused on Texans, not national Democratic leaders, and he argued that Paxton was unfit to serve, citing corruption allegations and the Texas House's impeachment of him, which the state Senate later rejected.
The race turned bitter. Republicans called Talarico a communist and mocked his vegetarian diet in barbecue country, while Talarico invoked Lyndon Johnson and Sam Houston to argue Paxton did not belong in their seat.
Republicans were divided as well. Cornyn lost the primary, refused to campaign for Paxton, and warned that Judgment Day was coming for him.
The night was hard for Republicans statewide and nationally. Democrats were projected to take the House, and Gov. Greg Abbott was projected to lose to Gina Hinojosa. The lesson of the night was that a presidential endorsement and heavy spending could not carry a contested nominee, and a split that opened in the primary never closed.
Shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday night, the Fox News Decision Desk called the Texas Senate race for James Talarico, a Democratic state representative. The call gave Democrats their first Senate seat from Texas in nearly four decades, and it came against a candidate the president had personally chosen.
That candidate was Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and a strong ally of Donald Trump. Earlier this year Trump backed Paxton over the longtime incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, even though Republicans in Washington believed Cornyn would be the stronger nominee. The midterm cycle was already difficult for the party in power, with economic stress and war pushing against it.
The effort behind Paxton was large. Trump made near-weekly visits to Texas. His war chest, MAGA Inc., and national Republicans put hundreds of millions of dollars into a campaign that nonetheless struggled. It was not enough to stop Talarico, who presented himself as a moderate committed to Texans rather than to national Democratic figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
The race was bitter from start to finish. Talarico argued that Paxton was unfit to serve, pointing to several corruption allegations, including the Texas House's impeachment of Paxton over alleged corruption. The Texas Senate later acquitted him. Talarico used the Senate seat's history in his closing message. "Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat," he said, adding that Paxton should be nowhere near Sam Houston's either.
Republicans went after Talarico on ideology and personal image. Paxton, Trump and national Republicans called him a "communist" and noted he was a vegan in barbecue-loving Texas. They also focused on his support for the transgender community in the Legislature, especially a floor speech describing God as "nonbinary." At a rally before Election Day, Paxton called Talarico "the most radical Democrat ever to run statewide" and likened him to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Trump gave him a nickname, "Talafreako," saying ahead of the GOP's midterm convention, which was meant largely to bolster Paxton, that Talarico was one of the worst candidates he had ever seen.
The party was also divided. Cornyn lost a bloody primary to Paxton and made clear he would not campaign for him. After the loss he said he refused to let a "flawed, self-centered and shameless candidate" like Paxton risk what Republicans had built over many years, and he warned, "Judgment Day is coming for Ken Paxton."
The Senate result came on a rough night for Republicans at the state and federal levels. When the race was called, Democrats were already projected to win the House majority. The Fox News Decision Desk also projected that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would lose to Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa.
The aftermath will be shaped by what the night showed: a presidential endorsement and a flood of money did not carry a contested nominee, and the Texas GOP split opened in the primary stayed open through the general election.
Citações Notáveis
Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat.— James Talarico
Judgment Day is coming for Ken Paxton.— Sen. John Cornyn
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