James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton to flip Texas’s open Senate seat — the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Texas since 1988. The AP called the race at 11:03 p.m. ET.
James Talarico started out teaching sixth-grade English in San Antonio. On Tuesday, the 37-year-old state lawmaker won a seat in the United States Senate.
Talarico was elected to the Texas House in 2018, at 29, then its youngest member. He holds a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard and has completed theological studies at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where he is pursuing a Master of Divinity. His faith is at the center of how he talks about politics.
He beat Rep. Jasmine Crockett in a hard Democratic primary, then faced Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general and a close ally of President Trump, for the seat Sen. John Cornyn gave up.
The win breaks a drought that lasted nearly four decades. No Democrat had won a Texas Senate seat since 1988. Watch whether Talarico’s mix of faith and populist economics becomes a model for Democrats in red states.
Fast facts
- Age: 37
- Party: Democratic
- Office: U.S. Senator
- State: Texas
- Previous job: Texas state representative
- Called by AP: 11:03 p.m. ET, Nov. 3, 2026
Part of the Zark News Election 2026 winners profile series. Winners are listed as called by the Associated Press.
