Talarico Beats Paxton 55% to 43% and Hinojosa Unseats Abbott in Texas Democrats' First Statewide Wins Since 1994

Ken Paxton began his concession at his watch party in Dallas on Tuesday night by congratulating James Talarico and promising to pray for him. By the time the last of Texas's 9,900 precincts reported, the margin explained why he had not waited: Talarico 5,445,121 votes, or 55 percent, to Paxton's 4,249,752, or 43 percent, with Libertarian Ted Brown taking 190,258, KPRC 2 in Houston reported. John Cornyn had held the seat since 2002, and Texas had not elected a Democrat to any statewide office since 1994.

It was not the only statewide line to flip. NBC News reported at 7:16 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday that Gina Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative, had defeated Greg Abbott, who was seeking a fourth term as governor, one of five Republican-held governorships Democrats took overnight, according to NBC's live blog. Hinojosa becomes the first Democrat elected governor of Texas in nearly 40 years.

Talarico, 37, is a former public-school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who ran as a progressive Christian on corruption and the cost of living, CBS News noted in its projection. Paxton, 63, the state attorney general, had beaten Cornyn in the Republican runoff despite Donald Trump's late endorsement of the incumbent, carrying a 2023 impeachment by the Texas House (he was acquitted by the state Senate) into a general election that cost more than half a billion dollars by mid-October, the most expensive Senate race in the state's history.

How did Talarico win Texas?

The AP Voter Poll gives the clearest answer. About two-thirds of voters in the Senate race said Paxton lacked the personal character to serve, PBS NewsHour reported. Republican advertising cast Talarico as a vegan too supportive of transgender rights, and voters were roughly split on whether his views were too extreme, so the attack cut both ways. Paxton's own reading on stage was national: a difficult night across the country, but not over.