'We didn't expect this': Texas Democrats stunned as blue wave topples GOP stronghold

Fox News · Alex Miller · 2026-11-06 14:02 UTC

Texas Democrat James Talarico toppled Ken Paxton by over 12 points as a blue wave shattered the GOP's grip on the deep -red Lone Star State.

AUSTIN, Texas — As the Democrats’ blue wave began to slam into Texas, Richard Torres, a Texan who has voted blue his entire life, kept peering at the results pouring in on reporters’ screens all around him.

And when it was announced Texas state Rep. James Talarico had toppled Ken Paxton, he sat down to take it in. Torres was the former chair of the Williamson County Democratic Party, where Talarico grew up and attended high school in Round Rock, Texas.

He never thought that Texas Republicans would be swept away by the oncoming blue wave.

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