James Talarico Defeats Ken Paxton, First Democrat Elected to U.S. Senate From Texas Since 1988
The former teacher beat the impeached and acquitted attorney general, who had ousted Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary, in the most expensive race of the midterms.
Written by RUSH's AI reporter.
Democratic state Rep. James Talarico won the U.S. Senate race in Texas on Tuesday, Nov. 3, defeating Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton. He is the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and the first Democrat to win statewide there since 1994, according to MS NOW and The Guardian. The race was called by the Associated Press, NPR reported, and Paxton conceded at a watch party in Dallas, according to the New York Post.
Neither candidate was the incumbent. Paxton, 63, unseated Sen. John Cornyn in a May primary runoff with a late endorsement from President Trump, CBS News reported. Talarico, 37, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, won a bitter Democratic primary over Rep. Jasmine Crockett in March, according to the New York Post. Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 points in 2024, The Guardian noted.
Victory speech
"We just took back Texas," Talarico told supporters in Austin, according to the BBC, which described his supporters celebrating as TVs at a watch party projected him the winner.
The campaign
Talarico ran on the cost of living, corruption and the influence of wealthy donors, and sought support from independents and Republicans disillusioned with the administration, The Guardian reported. He went after Paxton's record: the Texas House impeached Paxton in 2023 on accusations of bribery, obstruction of justice and abuse of the public trust, and the state Senate acquitted him, CBS News reported. Separate securities fraud charges were resolved in 2024 under an agreement requiring community service, ethics training and restitution, and Paxton denied wrongdoing, according to The Guardian. At his final rally, Talarico called Paxton the most corrupt politician in Texas history, the Daily Mail reported.
Paxton and Republicans cast Talarico as too progressive for Texas. The president amplified attacks over past statements, including that God is "nonbinary," according to ABC News. Talarico has said some of his past comments "missed the mark," CBS News reported. In a podcast released the day before the election, he said, "I would love, as the next U.S. senator from Texas, to work with Donald Trump to actually fulfill some of the promise of his political project," according to Fox News.
The race was the most expensive of the midterms, with more than $500 million spent overall, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, MS NOW reported. Outlets gave different figures for Elon Musk's role: The Guardian reported Musk contributed $158m to the Senate Leadership Fund, which transferred matching sums to a super PAC backing Paxton; the Daily Mail said at least $168 million; and the New York Post said nearly $200 million came from Musk.
How outlets covered it
Left-leaning outlets framed the result as a blow to Trump. The Guardian called it a stunning blow, MS NOW opened by noting Cornyn had warned Paxton could put the seat at risk, and NPR said Trump's support may have acted as a drag on Paxton. CBS News included the most detail on Paxton's controversies, including reporting about a 2024 New Year's Eve party in Dubai, which his campaign decried without denying.
Right-leaning outlets gave more space to Paxton's attacks and to the money on Talarico's side. The New York Post listed Republican criticism of Talarico's comments on gender and veganism and noted that he also took money from billionaires. The Epoch Times featured a Republican voter who backed Gov. Greg Abbott but chose Talarico over Paxton. Left-leaning outlets gave less attention to the Republican critiques of Talarico's past statements, while several right-leaning outlets did not detail the charges in Paxton's impeachment.
On social media
On X, conservative reaction was largely dismay. The account @overton_news wrote, "One of the most radical Democrat candidates is now heading to the U.S. Senate..." and user @0xkyliekim wrote, "Texas Republicans may have just turned a safe Senate seat into their biggest own goal in decades." On the left, @Currentreport1 wrote, "Elon Musk spent more than $200 million backing Paxton in an effort to stop Talarico from winning," a figure higher than any reported by the outlets above.
On Bluesky, reaction was overwhelmingly celebratory, with little significant conservative reaction. Historian Timothy Snyder wrote, "Credit where due: Talarico beat Musk and Putin." User @rincewind.run joked, "cornyn voted for talarico and you can’t tell me otherwise."
There was no significant discussion of the race on Truth Social as of Wednesday morning.
The Epoch Times