Paxton swept away by blue wave after most expensive Senate race on record

Texas has rejected Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at the ballot box on Tuesday and voted to seat Democrat James Talarico in the U.S. Senate.

Talarico is the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Texas since 1988.

The Trump-endorsed Republican ... grossly underperformed in various counties ... where President Donald Trump at the very least secured healthy majority support in 2024.

Paxton, who beat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary runoff, was trailing Talarico 59.4%-39% when AP called the race for his liberal opponent — a call that came after the Decision Desk HQ and NBC News dubbed Talarico the victor.

The Trump-endorsed Republican, who was dogged by numerous scandals during the campaign, grossly underperformed in various counties — such as Collin, Denton, Jefferson, and Webb — where President Donald Trump at the very least secured healthy majority support in 2024.

A White House official told Fox News' Peter Doocy, "Candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves."

This defeat comes after a closely watched race in which recent polls showed Talarico leading by up to seven percentage points.

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RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images

Talarico, whose ally Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D) won the governor's mansion, mopped up the vast majority of early in-person votes and mail-in votes, according to NBC News.

Talarico rebranded himself as a moderate on the campaign trail.

For example, he posed with meat after previously clutching pearls over animal welfare and the impact of meat consumption on "climate change"; walked back some of his more radical theological claims such as "God is nonbinary"; and masqueraded as a "border security Democrat" despite repeatedly voting against border and immigration security measures.

Talarico — whom White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller dubbed the "first transgender Senate candidate" — was evidently able to convince some Texans of his election-time conversion. He certainly won over members of the Bush family.

Texas' 2026 U.S. Senate race was the most expensive non-presidential race on record, according to AdImpact. Over $407 million was reportedly spent on ads and reservations in the general Senate election — and Republicans outspent Democrats $140.7 million in vain.

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