James Talarico flips the Senate seat in Texas for the first time since 1988: ‘It feels unbelievable, I’m not going to lie’

Texas has been one of the races to keep an eye on in the 2026 midterm elections in the United States. Democrat James Talarico faced off against Republican Ken Paxton for the open Senate seat in Texas, a state that’s been a Republican stronghold for decades. However, polls leading up to the midterms showed a close race, and Talarico was outspending Paxton until the latter received a last-minute donation from Elon Musk.

Now, the polls are closed, and the race has been called for Talarico. In Texas, Talarico wasn’t the only candidate to flip a seat, as Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott to become the state’s first Hispanic governor.

Talarico is the first Texas Democrat to take the Senate since 1988

The Telegraph gave a summary of outcomes from the races that were in the spotlight leading up to the midterm elections, given how close polls showed the candidates were. Talarico was one of these close races, along with the Michigan race between Republican Mike Rogers, who received a last-minute endorsement from Democrat Haley Stevens, and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, which was called for El-Sayed.

In North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper flipped the Senate seat, which hasn’t been held by a Democrat in roughly two decades. Meanwhile, Georgia elected Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms as its governor, making her the first black woman to hold the position of governor in any state.

Democrats take control of the House and Senate

Although not every race has been called at the time of writing this, enough have been called to give Democrats a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate once the next Congress is seated in January 2027.

With a Republican president, a Democratic Congress’ primary power comes from its ability to prevent judicial nominees, and this would be the case with a Democratic President with a Republican Congress as well. This split of control tends to result in what’s called a “lame duck president,” particularly when the current president is in the last half of their elected term and isn’t eligible for re-election, which is the case for Trump, who currently has two years remaining in his second term.

The simplified explanation is that Congress struggles to pass bills because they’re likely to be vetoed, while the president struggles to pass their agenda because it’s not likely to get through Congress. Historically, you see government shutdowns happen more frequently in this scenario, as the funding bills have to pass Congress and be signed by the president.

Candidates who won their races in the midterms are scheduled to be seated on January 3, 2027.

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