Texas Democrats seek full control of state government
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The gist
Democrats won Texas' governor, Senate and every statewide office, plus the state House, ending three decades of Republican dominance.
Republicans keep the state Senate, so Texas now has divided government for the first time since 1995.
Background
Gina Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative since 2017 and daughter of a former Texas Democratic Party chairman, is now the state's first Democratic governor since 1990 and its first Latina governor. She defeated Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, governor since 2015, who was seeking a fourth term. Republicans had held every statewide elected office since the late 1990s, and Democrats had not won statewide in Texas since 1994; the 2026 result was described as a full flip on a scale unseen since Reconstruction. The wins came amid nationwide Democratic gains in the midterms.
How it unfolded
- Nov 3, 2026Democrats won the Texas governor's race, the U.S. Senate race and every other statewide office, ending three decades of Republican dominance. Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott and James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton.
- Nov 3, 2026Democrats took control of the Texas House for the first time since Republicans took over after the 2002 election; Republicans kept control of the state Senate. Democratic state Rep. Vikki Goodwin declared victory over three-term Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
- Nov 3, 2026Democrat Nathan Johnson won the attorney general's office; Democrats also won races for comptroller, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner and railroad commissioner.
- Nov 4, 2026Unofficial results showed Democrats poised to take the Texas House for the first time in over 20 years, with many legislative races yet to be called by midday Wednesday. The National Conference of State Legislatures said the results broke Republican trifectas in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Texas.
- Nov 4, 2026The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said Democrats had flipped 12 chambers so far, the most since 2008, putting them in control of more than half the nation's state legislative chambers.
Who’s saying what
- Party
- Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder said Hinojosa ran a strategic, disciplined campaign and predicted the party would also surprise down ballot.
- Party
- The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said that with this sweep, Democrats achieved their best performance since the Watergate scandal.
- Caution
- Hinojosa said in a pre-election New York Times interview that even if she won, Republicans would still control much of the state, and described her agenda as one 99 percent of people agree on.
- Party
- Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Devin Remiker said now it is time to deliver.
Still unverified
Results were described as unofficial, and many legislative races had yet to be called by midday Wednesday; Democrats needed a net gain of 14 seats to take the Texas House, and so far had flipped 6 Republican-held seats while holding leads in more than a dozen uncalled races.