In one historic night, Democrats' wildest dreams in Texas became a reality. Democrats swept every statewide race in Republicans' most populous stronghold on Tuesday, ending a three-decade losing streak in the state. Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton, the state's scandal-plagued attorney general, to win a U.S.
Senate seat, while state Representative Gina Hinojosa toppled three-term Republican Governor Greg Abbott to become the state's first Latina governor. In the lieutenant governor's race, Democratic state lawmaker Vikki Goodwin ousted Republican incumbent Dan Patrick. Meanwhile, Democratic state Senator Nathan Johnson won the attorney general's race over Republican state Senator Mayes Middleton.
Republican Bo French, who drew condemnation from members of his own party over remarks about students at the University of Texas, lost the race for railroad commissioner to Democratic state Representative Jon Rosenthal. President Donald Trump's redistricting efforts also fell flat. Texas Republicans had redrawn House districts to give the GOP a chance at winning five additional seats, but the party failed to make any gains.
Democrats could also take control of the Texas House for the first time since 2003. The results are remarkable for a state where Democrats had not won a statewide race in a generation. The last time the state elected a Democrat to a statewide office was 1994, when Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock won reelection, and Texans have not sent a Democrat to the U.S.
Senate since reelecting Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. The Democratic sweep of statewide offices offers the clearest evidence yet that Texas' demographic changes, including a surging Hispanic population, could be leading to the shift in political power that Democrats have long hoped for, and that Republicans cannot continue to take Texas voters for granted. Tuesday's blue wave hit Texas particularly hard as voters channeled their frustrations over high costs, immigration enforcement and data centers, which have drawn opposition in Texas and elsewhere over their electricity and water consumption and impact on energy bills.
The Republican losses serve as a striking repudiation of Trump, just two years after he carried the state by a double-digit margin. The president all but made certain that midterm results would be viewed as a referendum on his presidency by urging voters to "pretend I'm on the ballot." Trump repeated the plea as he traveled to Texas and other states to shore up Republican candidates, even though his approval ratings have plummeted amid concerns about high prices and the Iran war. "This was a perfect storm of disaster for the Republicans—a historically unpopular president, traditional midterm trends, a war no one wanted and rising gas and grocery prices that are spiraling out of control," Mike Madrid, a longtime Republican strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, told Newsweek.
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