Texas Democrats Sweep Statewide Offices, Take House

Texas Democrats ended decades of statewide defeats with a sweeping Election Day victory, electing James Talarico to the U.S. Senate, defeating Gov. Greg Abbott with Gina Hinojosa, winning other statewide offices and taking control of the state House. Their gains followed years of organizing and recruiting candidates across the ballot, with Talarico’s campaign helping build momentum and Hinojosa’s focus on issues including health care costs and data centers appealing to voters. Republicans retained the state Senate, leaving divided government and a difficult test of whether Democrats can deliver on their promises, particularly on affordability and health care. The upset also draws attention to Texas’s less familiar history of economic populism, a subject explored by commentator David Griscom in his book *The Myth of Red Texas*.