Democrat James Talarico won Texas’ statewide election for the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican Ken Paxton, according to an explicit Associated Press race-call bulletin.

The AP bulletin was published at 11:03:50 p.m. Eastern time on Nov. 3, 2026. It identifies Talarico as the winner of the Texas Senate contest. Election-night returns remain unofficial until Texas completes its canvass and certification, so incomplete counts should not be treated as the final margin.

Federal Election Commission records list Talarico as the Democratic candidate for Texas’ Senate seat and Paxton as the Republican candidate. Talarico is a state representative and seminary student; Paxton has served as Texas attorney general.

Talarico campaigned on lowering household costs and argued that Paxton’s record raised questions about political corruption. Paxton emphasized President Donald Trump’s endorsement and attacked Talarico’s positions on social issues. The AP’s election-night report placed the race among the Senate contests that shifted control of the chamber to Democrats.

The victory is the first by a Democrat for statewide office in Texas since 1994 and the party’s first Texas U.S. Senate win since Lloyd Bentsen’s reelection in 1988, according to the AP.

Photo: James Talarico at an Austin event, Sept. 23, 2023. Larry D. Moore/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Reformatted to a 16:9 landscape canvas.