Democrats flip Texas as Talarico and Hinojosa are elected senator and governor

James Talarico, a 37-year-old Democrat who has served in the Texas House since 2018, won the Senate race against Republican Ken Paxton. In his victory speech, he likened the campaign to David versus Goliath and said he had challenged Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the Washington establishment; outgoing Senator John Cornyn congratulated him. Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott, becoming Texas’s first Latina governor and its first Democratic governor since Ann Richards. Democrats also flipped at least six previously Republican Senate seats and won control of Congress, amid voter concerns about governance, economic pressures, trade policies and fuel prices driven up by the war in Iran.