James Talarico defeats Ken Paxton in Texas Senate race with record early vote

Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, securing over 5.4 million total votes, with early voting alone delivering nearly 4.4 million votes—exceeding Paxton's entire total of 4.2 million. The victory marks a major upset, aided by Paxton's high disapproval ratings following his 2023 impeachment, which Republican strategist Karl Rove said dragged down the entire state GOP ticket. Talarico's early vote margin proved insurmountable before Tuesday's election day. In a related result, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Greg Abbott to become Texas's first Latina governor and first Democratic governor in over 30 years. Trump, who campaigned heavily for Republicans, blamed Abbott's loss on the governor allegedly becoming a Republican In Name Only.