'We didn't expect this': Texas Democrats stunned as blue wave topples GOP stronghold

Democrats won a sweeping victory in Texas on Tuesday night, taking a Senate seat and the governor's office in a state long dominated by Republicans. State Rep. James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton, the candidate Trump backed, by more than 12 percentage points, a margin of well over 1 million votes. Trump had carried Texas in 2024 by nearly 14 points. Gina Hinojosa was also elected governor, and Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress were reported to be slipping away as the night went on, according to Fox News.

Fox News Digital spoke with people at Talarico's election night gathering in Austin, many of whom were caught off guard. Richard Torres, a lifelong Democrat who once chaired the Democratic Party in Williamson County, where Talarico was raised and went to school in Round Rock, said he had not anticipated results like these. Torres read the outcome as a verdict on President Donald Trump and a warning to Texas Republicans who stand behind him, particularly over the war. Talarico also needed Republican crossover votes to win, and one voter identified only as James said he had backed the GOP every time until this election.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →