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Democrat James Talarico wins historic Texas Senate race

Summarised from 7 outlets · 13 reports · Updated 4 Nov, 14:34 · Archive

Democrat James Talarico has won a US Senate seat in Texas, defeating Republican Ken Paxton in the state's first Democratic statewide victory since 1994.

Democrat James Talarico has won the US Senate race in Texas, defeating Republican Ken Paxton. Multiple outlets confirm this marks a historic breakthrough: the first Democratic statewide victory in Texas since 1994 and the first time a Democrat has won a Texas Senate seat since 1988.

Talarico, a 37-year-old former schoolteacher and Presbyterian seminarian, campaigned on a message of 'politics of love'. He pledged to tackle political corruption, expand healthcare, invest in education and end what he called costly, corrupt wars. Supporters celebrated the result at watch parties in Austin and Houston, with large crowds erupting in cheers when the race was called.

The Republican establishment had backed Ken Paxton, the state's attorney general. President Donald Trump had intervened in the Republican primary to endorse Paxton over the incumbent senator John Cornyn. Despite Trump's endorsement, Paxton failed to generate enthusiasm among Republicans.

Spending in the race reached record levels. Elon Musk, whose SpaceX company is based in Texas, spent at least £212 million supporting Paxton, according to Al Jazeera. This represented the largest share of Republican spending that topped half a billion dollars overall. Despite these efforts, Talarico won by a significant margin, holding 53.9 per cent of the vote to Paxton's 44.2 per cent, according to Fox News, a gap of 9.7 percentage points in a race that polling organisations had rated as highly competitive.

In his victory speech in Austin, Talarico portrayed the campaign as a battle against powerful political and financial interests. 'We defeated Goliath,' he said, citing opposition from 'the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world, and the entire Washington DC establishment'. He also said: 'Power belongs to the people' and 'We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love.'

Fox News reported that the Democratic victories in Texas defied expectations in a state Trump had carried by double digits just two years earlier. The outlet noted that a Fox News poll in October had shown Talarico and Paxton nearly tied, with Abbott leading his Democratic opponent. Both Democrats ultimately won by wide margins.

France 24 reported that Democrat Gina Hinojosa also won the governorship, unseating incumbent Greg Abbott, though only one outlet identifies her as the state's first Latina governor. These twin Democratic victories marked a stunning rebuke to President Trump and represented a major shift in a state that has long been a Republican stronghold. Al Jazeera reported that Republicans were attempting to make sense of the losses, with some Ken Paxton supporters blaming Trump and fearing political retribution.

Democrat James Talarico wins historic Texas Senate race
Image: Daily Mail

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How it is being reported

In this story: James Talarico · Ken Paxton · Gina Hinojosa · Elon Musk · Donald Trump · Texas · SpaceX

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log