James Talarico beat Ken Paxton roughly 59% to 39% in the Texas Senate race, and John Cornyn was among the first to say so. Cornyn lost his job to Paxton in May. On Tuesday night, Cornyn congratulates Talarico, the Democrat who beat him.
After the AP and other outlets projected Talarico the winner, Cornyn posted on X. “The voters have spoken, and I want to extend my congratulations to James Talarico on his election to the U.S. Senate,” he wrote, according to the Washington Examiner. He also said he looks forward to meeting Talarico and “offering my assistance with his transition.” For the full results, see our report on how Talarico beat Paxton.
How Cornyn congratulates Talarico: the numbers
The AP called the race for Talarico, a 37-year-old Austin state lawmaker, with about two-thirds of the vote counted. At that point, he led Paxton roughly 59% to 39%, per CBS Austin’s AP tally. Those totals are partial, so the final margin will move.
Paxton, the state attorney general, conceded not long after. “Well, let me start off by congratulating James Talarico,” he said in his speech, The Hill reported. He also said it is “not over” for the country.
The history is big. It is the first Texas Democratic U.S. Senate win since 1988, the Texas Tribune says. It is also the first Democratic statewide win of any kind here since 1994.
Those are two different streaks, and both just ended.
Why Cornyn’s congratulation to Talarico lands differently
Cornyn did not lose to Talarico. He lost to his own party first.
Paxton beat him in the May 26 GOP runoff by about 64% to 36%, after President Trump endorsed Paxton a week earlier, Al Jazeera reported. As a result, Cornyn became the first Texas Republican senator ever denied renomination. Republicans had seen him as their best shot to hold the seat. Trump picked Paxton anyway.
So when Cornyn says “the voters have spoken,” it carries extra weight. He has now heard from voters twice this year, and he is the one handing over the keys. He is 74. Talarico will be the Senate’s youngest member, PBS reported. Because Cornyn congratulates Talarico so openly, the handoff looks civil, whatever the party feud.
Why the Talarico win matters to Texas voters
Money was everywhere in this race. Elon Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which gave the same amount to a Texas PAC that became Paxton’s largest contributor, ABC News reported. MAGA Inc. spent another $43.3 million for Paxton. Even with that, he lost. In fact, polls had shown Paxton could not shake Talarico in the final days.
Talarico ran on a simple pitch: high prices and megadonor money are connected. He rarely went after Republicans as a group. Some of them noticed. Neil Bush and trial lawyer Thomas J. Henry, a former Paxton donor, backed him. That crossover shows why Cornyn’s praise of the Talarico win did not come out of nowhere.
For Texas families, a Democratic senator could change how the state votes on costs, immigration and Trump’s nominees. However, whether Democrats win the Senate overall is not settled. The Washington Post says Talarico’s win gives Democrats one of the four seats they needed to flip. Watch the national count, not the headlines that call it early.
What happens after Cornyn concedes to Talarico
Cornyn’s term ends in January, and Talarico takes the seat then. The exact swearing-in date is not confirmed. Still unknown: the final vote totals, certification, and how Trump responds. Paxton remains attorney general for now. Meanwhile, you can read how Texas got here in our look at the 30-year drought Talarico ended.
