Thursday, November 05, 2026
Texas Political Mayhem!
In all the coverage of the midterm results, I haven't seen much from the national media reflecting the totally unexpected results in Texas. Not James Talarico winning the Senate seat-- that was kind of expected to people who realized how unpopular his opponent was and how good Talarico was in the campaign. Hinojosa upsetting Governor Abbot was more of a surprise, sure. But down lower on the ballot is where the real shock came. Consider the following:
-- In Texas, the Lieutenant Governor is an important position, and actually runs the Senate (among other duties). The incumbent, Dan Patrick, was relatively popular. But he lost to Democrat Vikki Goodwin, a State Rep.
-- In fact, except for a single member of the Board of Education, Democrats won every single statewide office up for a vote: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Land Commissioner, Railroad Commissioner, and Agriculture Commissioner.
-- In the legislature, the Democrats won a majority in the state House, something few saw coming.
-- They also flipped four Supreme Court seats (there were only four up for election), with Democrats unseating incumbent Republicans.
-- Maggie Ellis, a student from my Baylor Law days, was elected to be the next Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Oh, and Talarico-- he won by over 12 points. That's remarkable-- but it was that kind of day.
