James Talarico Defeats Ken Paxton For Texas Senate Seat

Democrat James Talarico just won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas and broke a thirty-two-year GOP drought. He defeated state Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the biggest races of the year. The myth of a blue Texas is now a real thing. Talarico ran on cost of living issues and anti-corruption. Paxton leaned hard on his allegiance to Donald Trump and pumped hundreds of millions into ads. Elon Musk alone dumped almost half a billion dollars into Republican campaigns. Paxton even ducked all three proposed network debates. He also tried to paint his rival as a radical leftist. But the political map shifted fast . Trump saw his approval numbers tank after launching a war against Iran this spring. That broke his no-war promise and sent fuel prices soaring. Inflation went up and wage growth stayed flat. Trump also campaigned right alongside Paxton in Dallas. Leaked audio later showed Paxton complaining that the presidential visit actually hurt his numbers. Disaffected Hispanic voters abandoned the GOP in droves. John Cornyn was one of the first Republicans to congratulate Talarico on Tuesday.