Democrats have swept Texas in a historic election, with James Talarico winning a US Senate seat and Gina Hinojosa becoming the first Democrat elected governor of the state in more than a generation.
The party’s four other statewide candidates were also leading as ballots continued to be counted, while Democrats made gains in redrawn congressional districts, the state legislature and the courts.
The results mark the first Democratic victory in a Texas Senate race since 1988 and the first Democratic win in the governor’s race since 1990. The party had repeatedly failed to turn the state in presidential and Senate contests, and had remained largely uncompetitive in statewide elections.
“It’s something that I haven’t seen in decades, that none of us have seen in decades,” said Joe Straus, a former Republican speaker of the Texas House.
Talarico and Hinojosa built their leads in the state’s heavily Democratic urban centres while also performing strongly in Tarrant County, the largest Republican-led county in the United States. Democrats also reversed Republican advances in the largely Latino Rio Grande Valley, which had shifted sharply to the right in recent elections.
Democratic congressman Vicente Gonzalez won by almost 20 points in a district Republicans had redrawn to favour their party. His victory came against a leading Republican recruit who campaigned alongside Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, before polling day.
The results followed a collapse in Donald Trump’s 2024 coalition in Texas, amid voter concerns over the economy, immigration enforcement, data centres and corruption.
“We reminded voters that Republicans have been in charge in Texas for 30 years. That every problem we have, was caused by Republicans,” said Michelle Lowe Solis, chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party. “They aren’t going to fix the problems, they caused them.”
Democrats make gains across Texas
As counting continued, Democrats appeared set to win Rio Grande Valley congressional seats and retain another San Antonio-area district that had been drawn to benefit Republicans.
They were also leading in all four Texas Supreme Court races being contested. If those leads hold, the court’s nine-to-zero conservative majority could become a five-to-four split.
Of the first 36 state House races called by the Associated Press, 34 had gone to Democrats and two to Republicans.
“Voters aren’t dumb,” said Linda Sanchez, a Democratic congresswoman from California who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ BOLD PAC. “Even though the Republicans have tried to cheat with the series of gerrymanders, that has, I think, only made voters in those areas more willing to participate.”
The victories are expected to strengthen the national standing of Texas Democrats, who have long sought greater funding and organisational support in the expensive state. They are also likely to reinforce arguments that Texas, with 40 electoral votes, should be treated as a presidential battleground.
