It is also a huge blow to Republicans in general, and specifically to President Trump, who endorsed controversial Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a contentious GOP primary runoff.
Many Republicans saw Cornyn as the much safer pick, and will believe that in endorsing Paxton, who easily defeated Cornyn in a primary after the endorsement, the president helped deliver a historic victory to Democrats.
Talarico, the 37-year-old state lawmaker, was seen as Democrats’ best chance in years to break through the GOP’s domination of statewide seats.
Talarico’s measured bid focused on a unity message, leaning into his faith and experience as a Presbyterian seminarian and former public school teacher. He was one of the Democratic state legislators who fled Texas last year in a bid to stall GOP-friendly redistricting and drew comparisons to Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who came within a few points of ousting Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in 2018.
Ahead of Election Day, the Democrat narrowly led in DDHQ’s polling averages, and forecasts signaled he was slightly favored to pull it off after raising a staggering $64 million in the third quarter of the year, compared to Paxton’s $18 million.
