While much of the attention in Texas’ historic election centered on the victories of gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, Democrats also made sweeping gains in other statewide races, capturing offices Republicans had controlled for decades.
The Nov. 3 election marked a dramatic political shift across Texas, with Democrats winning every statewide executive office on the ballot and ending a statewide losing streak that stretched back to 1994.
The winners, race by race
We just took back Texas. https://t.co/xewCGiQ6pc
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) November 4, 2026
U.S. Senate
Democrat James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative who has served in the Texas House since 2018 and is a former public school teacher, defeated Ken Paxton, who has been Texas attorney general since 2015. Paxton defeated Sen. John Cornyn, who had held the seat since 2002, in the Republican primary earlier this year.
Libertarian Ted Brown also ran.
A new era of government by the people and for the people begins today. https://t.co/5CgHIqcsDf
— Gina Hinojosa (@GinaHinojosaTX) November 4, 2026
Governor
Gina Hinojosa, a state representative serving in the Texas House since 2017 and a former Austin school board president, defeated Gov. Greg Abbott, who was seeking a fourth term, by a margin of nearly 706,000 votes.
Hinojosa will be Texas’ first Latina governor and the first governor from the Rio Grande Valley. She is the first Democrat elected governor since Ann Richards in 1990.
Abbott conceded on Election Night.
Lieutenant Governor
Vikki Goodwin, an Austin-area state representative, defeated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Goodwin will be the first woman to hold the office and the first Democratic lieutenant governor in 27 years.
Patrick, first elected in 2014, was seeking a fourth term.
Attorney General
Nathan Johnson, a Dallas-area state senator first elected in 2018, defeated Mayes Middleton, a Galveston-area state senator since 2023, a former state representative and an oil and gas businessman.
Johnson succeeds Paxton, who ran for the U.S. Senate race against Talarico.
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Sarah Eckhardt, a Democratic state senator, defeated Comptroller Don Huffines, a businessman and former Dallas-area state senator whom Abbott appointed comptroller earlier this year.
Republicans had held the office since 1998.
Land Commissioner
Benjamin Flores, a one-time Bay City city council member, defeated Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, a former state senator who was first elected in 2022 as the first woman to hold the office.
Agriculture Commissioner
Clayton Tucker, a Lampasas rancher and progressive activist, defeated Nate Sheets, a cattle and horse rancher who founded a honey company. He was Abbott’s pick in the Republican primary, where he defeated longtime Commissioner Sid Miller.
Railroad Commissioner
Jon Rosenthal, a Houston-area state representative and former oilfield engineer, defeated Bo French, who beat incumbent Commissioner Jim Wright in the Republican primary runoff and was recently embroiled in a racist social media post scandal.
Harris County Commissioners
Precinct 2: Adrian Garcia defeated Republican Richard Vega, securing a third term representing southeast Harris County and parts of north Houston.
Precinct 4: Lesley Briones defeated former Republican Commissioner Steve Radack, winning a second term representing western Harris County.
Statewide courts
Democrats also won statewide judicial seats:
- Texas Supreme Court (all four seats, Democrats): Maggie Ellis over Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock; Chari Kelly over James Sullivan (Place 2); Kristen Hawkins over Kyle Hawkins (Place 7); Gisela Triana over Brett Busby (Place 8). Republicans retain a 5-4 majority. A Democrat had last won a seat on the court in 1994.
- Court of Criminal Appeals: Democrats Okey Anyiam (Place 3), Audra Riley (Place 4) and Holly Taylor (Place 9) won. Democrats won all three seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals.
- 15th Court of Appeals: Democrats Jerry Zimmerer, Tom Baker and Marc Meyer won, replacing the three Abbott appointees.
Why this blue wave is significant
The 2026 midterms ended the nation’s longest statewide drought.
No Democrat had won statewide office in Texas since 1994. Democrats last won a U.S. Senate race in Texas in 1988, when Lloyd Bentsen won his final re-election to the Senate. Ann Richards was the last Democrat to serve as Governor of Texas, having held office from 1991 to 1995.
The elections were also a sweep, not a single upset.
Democrats won the governor’s race, the Senate seat, and all seven statewide executive races on the ballot, and flipped the attorney general’s office, which has been a central platform for conservative litigation nationally.
The margins dwarf past near-misses
Texas’ recent history of Democratic hopes and losses shows the scale of the shift:
- 2014: Abbott beat Democrat Wendy Davis by 20 percentage points.
- 2018: Ted Cruz beat Beto O’Rourke by 2.56 points, or 214,921 votes, the closest statewide result for a Democrat in decades.
- 2022: Abbott beat O’Rourke by about 11 points; Patrick won by about 10 points over Mike Collier; Paxton won by about 10 points over Rochelle Garza.
- 2024: Donald Trump carried Texas by about 14 points, and Cruz won re-election over Colin Allred.
- 2026: Talarico won by about 12 percentage points and Hinojosa by about 7.
Turnout was historic
More than 7.4 million Texans voted early in person, and more than 7.7 million including mail ballots, over 40% of the state’s roughly 19 million registered voters, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s data.
Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.
In Texas, Republicans’ new congressional map produced no gains and a net loss of one seat, with Democrats flipping districts including TX-15 (Bobby Pulido) and TX-23 (Katy Padilla Stout).
Democrats also flipped the Texas House for the first time since 2002, while Republicans retained control of the Texas Senate.
