Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in Texas’ U.S. Senate race Tuesday, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state in nearly four decades. The race, which shattered spending records at $544.5 million according to AdImpact Politics, was marked by Paxton’s vulnerabilities stemming from a 2023 impeachment and personal scandals.
Democrat James Talarico’s victory over Republican Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race marks the first time in the modern era a Democrat has won a Senate seat in Texas, according to NTD News. At 37, Talarico is set to become the youngest member of the U.S. Senate, taking the distinction from Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, per Yahoo. The seat was vacated by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the Republican primary to Paxton earlier in 2026.
The race shattered campaign spending records, with AdImpact Politics ranking it the most expensive non-presidential race on record in the nation at $544.5 million, surpassing Ohio’s 2024 Senate race which cost $542.8 million, according to NTD News.
Turnout rivaled the 2024 presidential election, the outlet reported. In typically red Collin County outside of Dallas, turnout was heavy in the town of Wylie, with a line stretching out the door at 10:30 a.m. local time at one polling location.
Paxton was considered a weak candidate by some Republican analysts because of scrutiny over an extramarital affair, a divorce, and a 2023 failed impeachment effort launched by the Texas House, according to NTD News. Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 over allegations of corruption and abuse of office, but was acquitted by the state Senate; a separate federal investigation into him was closed without charges, per Yahoo.
Paxton defeated incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn in a contentious 2026 Republican primary, during which Cornyn called Paxton corrupt, according to NTD News. Cornyn did not campaign with Paxton after his defeat, allowing Democrats to capitalize on the schism, the outlet reported.
Voter Charles Allen told The Epoch Times he voted for Abbott but couldn’t bring himself to vote for Paxton, choosing Talarico instead. Allen said voting for Talarico was painful — “I didn’t want to vote for him,” but he believes Paxton has “just got too much junk in the closet,” per the outlet.
In Dallas County, J.Z. Rojas, 20, voted for Democrats because of the deportation of illegal immigrants, telling The Epoch Times: “My Hispanic people mean a lot to me. I think it’s wrong to deport people. A lot of people are mad.” Some voters interviewed before the election cited high gas and grocery prices as major concerns; others said they were concerned about socialism and gender ideology, according to NTD News.
Talarico’s campaign focused heavily on the cost of living, health care, and economic concerns, while also making the case that Texas voters deserved a change in leadership, per Yahoo. “Texans are ready for change, change that will roll back these corrupt tariffs that are raising grocery prices, change that will end this corrupt war in the Middle East driving up gas prices,” Talarico said at a rally in Lubbock, Texas in October. “We are done with the extremism and the corruption. We’re done with the politics of division and we are ready for something new,” Talarico said.
President Donald Trump endorsed and campaigned for Paxton, praising him as the best attorney general in the country, according to NTD News. Trump visited Texas four times before the election, hoping to boost Republican turnout, which the GOP anticipated would be lower without the president on the ballot. Trump argued a Democratic win would halt or reverse his policies, per the outlet.
Most October polls showed Talarico ahead, but a few polls broke the trend; a mid-October poll from InsiderAdvantage showed Paxton at 49 percent and Talarico at 48 percent, according to NTD News. Paxton supporters said before Election Day that they don’t trust the polls, which have undercounted Republican support in Texas in the past. Paxton supporter Bill England told The Epoch Times
