Talarico defeats Paxton in Texas Senate race

James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in the race for Texas' U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday. The Associated Press called the race at 10 p.m. after Talarico maintained a commanding lead. This victory capping a contentious campaign cycle with a historic win for the Democratic Party in the state.

Talarico will claim the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn on Jan. 3, 2027. The last time Texans elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate was in 1988, when they reelected Lloyd Bentsen. A Texas Democrat has not held a Senate seat since 1993, when Robert Krueger was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Bentsen's resignation.

The 2018 election saw Beto O'Rourke come within about 215,000 votes of unseating Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. That was the closest a Democrat had come to winning a Texas Senate race since 1988. Talarico's victory Tuesday surpasses that margin.

Ken Paxton announced his bid for the Senate during a Fox News interview in April 2025. He filed the official paperwork to enter the race in November of last year. Paxton has served as the state's attorney general since 2014.

Paxton faced U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt and Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026. No candidate won a majority, so the race advanced to a May runoff between Paxton and Cornyn. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton in the final stretch of that contest. Paxton won the runoff to become the Republican nominee.

Talarico announced his 2026 U.S. Senate campaign at a rally in Round Rock on Sept. 9, 2025. He was first elected to the Texas House in 2018. He currently represents District 50, which includes parts of Austin and Pflugerville.

Talarico faced Rep. Jasmine Crockett in a competitive Democratic primary. He defeated Crockett on March 3, winning 53 percent of the vote to her 45 percent. The primary featured sharp exchanges and debates over race, gender, and the party's strategy.

The general election campaign featured attack ads, controversies, rallies, and town halls, but no debates. In early February, former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred criticized Talarico over an influencer's claim that Talarico called him a mediocre Black man. Talarico denied the remark, saying he had criticized Allred's campaign strategy. Later that month, CBS pulled Talarico's planned interview with Stephen Colbert. The late-night host criticized the decision, and the interview was later posted to YouTube.

Scrutiny of Paxton's personal life increased in September. Sen. Angela Paxton urged Republican women to vote for the party even if they were mad at them. She had filed for divorce from Ken Paxton in 2025, citing biblical grounds and alleging adultery, which he denies. Talarico faced online attacks ranging from false claims about his diet to AI generated ads. Rumors spread in October that he was in a mental health facility while he was actually at home recovering from the flu.