Democrats scored a major breakthrough in Texas on Election Night, with state Rep. James Talarico projected to win the U.S. Senate race against Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa projected to defeat incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott.

NBC News, CNN, the Associated Press and other outlets called both races for the Democrats late Tuesday, ending a decades-long Republican lock on statewide offices. No Democrat had won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, and none had won any statewide race since 1994. Hinojosa’s victory also makes her Texas’ first Latina governor and the first Democrat to occupy the Governor’s Mansion since Ann Richards left office in 1995.

Talarico, a 37-year-old former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, built his campaign around economic concerns, affordability, and a message of political unity. He defeated Paxton, a Trump-endorsed candidate who faced years of legal controversies, including a 2023 impeachment by the Republican-led Texas House (he was later acquitted). The Senate contest ranked among the most expensive in U.S. history.

Hinojosa, a civil rights lawyer and five-term Austin-area state representative, focused on public education funding, teacher pay, and opposition to school vouchers. Born in McAllen and raised in Brownsville, she becomes the first governor from the Rio Grande Valley. In her victory remarks she described herself as “a daughter of the Rio Grande Valley.”

Early unofficial results showed strong Democratic support across the Valley. In Hidalgo County, Talarico led Paxton by roughly three-to-one, with similar margins for Hinojosa over Abbott; Cameron County showed comparable patterns.

The dual victories mark a sharp reversal in a state President Donald Trump carried by nearly 14 points in 2024 and represent one of the biggest political upsets of the 2026 midterms. Results remain unofficial until canvassed.