Talarico and Hinojosa Lead Texas Dems
to All-Time Blowout as Texas Goes Blue
Capitol Inside
November 4, 2026
The Democrats slammed an end to 30 years of Republican rule in Texas on Tuesday night with the biggest blowout in the history of elections here with epic wins by James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa in the races for U.S. Senate and governor and the reclaiming of the state House majority for the first time in two dozen years.
The Democrats ran the table in statewide races - and they made a mockery of a gerrymandered congressional map that the Republicans in Austin redesigned under orders from President Donald Trump. After promising the president that the GOP would pick up all five districts that were targeted for takeover, Texas Democrats emerged from Tuesday's vote with a net-gain of one seat on the Trump map.
Democrats flipped at least 13 seats in the state House where they needed 14 more to reclaim the majority for the first time since 2003. But Democrats were winning late Tuesday night in 19 House districts by four points or more as the midnight hour approached - and Democrats were tied with GOP opponents at 50 percent or 49 percent in seven districts that the current ruling party was attempting to defend in 2026.
The Democrats, who have 62 seats on the current roster in the Legislature's lower chamber, would take over 26 districts that were red going into Tuesday's election if they won in all of the districts that were tied and all of those where the Republicans were trailing early Wednesday morning. That would give the Democrats 88 seats in the House - the same number that the GOP controlled there going into Tuesday's vote.
The incumbent Republicans who lost House races on Tuesday included State Reps. GOP State Reps. Angie Chen Button of Garland, Denise Villalobos of Corpus Christi, Janie Lopez of San Benito, Caroline Harris Davila of Round Rock, Marc LaHood of San Antonio, Don McLaughlin of Uvalde and Mike Schofield of Katy.
GOP State Reps. Gary Gates of Richmond, John McQueeney of Fort Worth, Charles Cunningham of Houston, Lacey Hull of Houston, Valoree Swanson of Spring and Hillary Hickland of Belton were all trailing Democratic challengers by 4 points with 95 percent of the ballots tallied. Republican State Reps. Candy Noble of Lucas and Keresa Richardson of McKinney both were 2 points behind Democrats early Wednesday morning.
Democrat Kristian Carranza crushed a Republican foe in an open race for a House seat in the San Antonio area that the GOP was trying to defend. Democrat Katie Duzan was up by 6 points over GOP nominee Cheryl Bean in an open contest in Tarrant County for a seat that's long been red. Democrat Ebony Turner defeated the GOP's Ellen Fleishmann in another open race in Tarrant County.
Democrats flipped the Congressional District 15 and Congressional District 23 seats with victories by Bobby Pulido and Katy Stout Padilla over GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Republican Brandon Herrera respectively. The Republicans flipped one of five target U.S. House districts en route to a net-loss of six seats. Democrat Leticia Gutierrez scored a double-digit win over the GOP's Alex Mealer in Congressional District 9 where the Republican had been the favorite in the fight for a seat that was drawn to flip.
Democrat Vikki Goodwin ousted Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick in the fight for Texas Senate president. Democrat Nathan Johnson beat the GOP's Mayes Middleton in the attorney general's race on Tuesday night when Democratic challengers Sarah Eckhardt and Ben Flores unseated Comptroller Don Huffines and Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham respectively. Democrat Jon Rosenthal capped it off with a victory over Republican Bo French in the race for the Texas Railroad Commission.
more to come ...
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