The Texas Tribune newsroom has reporters across the state tracking the election results. They’ll be posting their observations and analysis below all night.
Here’s are the top things you need to know:
- Gov. Greg Abbott conceded to Gina Hinojosa, in a stunning upset. Hinojosa, a state representative from Austin, will be the first Democratic governor since Ann Richards lost her reelection bid in 1994. She will become Texas’ first Latina governor.
- James Talarico won Texas’ U.S. Senate seat. The Democrat defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican.
- You can see vote totals for all statewide and legislative races here.
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With the early vote in in Bexar County, we've got some results in the competitive 23rd and 35th Congressional Districts. In 35, Democrat Johnny Garcia won the early drop by 32%. In 23, Democrat Katy Padilla Stout won the Bexar early vote by 15%. Still lots of vote in the red counties of both districts outstanding.
What’s brewing in Texas right now is almost hard to fathom: In counties across the state, Talarico is leading by margins that, if they hold, would be historic for a Democrat in modern-day Texas. And the rest of Dems’ statewide ticket is running close enough to Talarico that each of their GOP opponents, from Gov. Greg Abbott down to the state courts, appears to be in danger. Republicans will be looking for an epic showing on Election Day to blunt the worst effects of the blue wave, which is looking like a tsunami at the moment.
Early vote tallies from Montgomery County are in. Paxton and other statewide Republicans are up. Again this is a GOP stronghold. Would spell big trouble if Republicans were down.
Hi there! I am at the Ken Paxton election watch party in Dallas, where there’s an actual cannon representing the Battle of Gonzales — a symbol Paxton used to represent himself as a defender of traditional Texan culture. The polls have closed and reporters and videographers from national, regional and local media outlets are still outnumbering guests. Those who are in attendance are closely watching a big projector screen while munching on popcorn. The mood has dipped a little as early results trickle in showing Talarico leads in Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties — places that are up for grabs in the U.S. Senate race.
Now that we have somewhat of an idea about how EV returns for Railroad Commissioner are shaking out in counties the GOP has handily won for multiple election cycles, we can turn our attention to the Rio Grande Valley.
Why? In 2022, Luke Warford swept several border counties — Hidalgo, Zapata and Webb, where Democrat Jon Rosenthal held his first public campaign event.
The Associated Press has called the Texas State Board of Education District 13 race in favor of Democrat Tiffany Clark, the incumbent.
Clark, an educator, currently leads Republican Carlos “Charlie” Garza 81% to 19% — with 67% of votes counted. The seat covers large portions of Dallas and Tarrant counties.
Early voting results show Democrat candidate Clayton Tucker has the lead in the race for Agriculture Commissioner over Republican candidate Nate Sheets. Tucker currently has 58%. About 18% of the votes have been counted, so it’s still too early to call.
Early votes in Nueces County show that Dems have a lead on all federal and state races (except in the race for HD 32). Here, so far, Talarico has 55% of the vote, Hinojosa has 54%, Goodwin has 52%, and Johnson has 54%. Both U.S. House reps are at risk of losing their seats — Cloud has just 31% of the early vote, and Flores has 46%.
On CBS News, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett declared that the GOP will not pick up the five seats they hoped to pick up from redistricting.
Talarico has 40% of the early vote in Potter County, the other half of Amarillo in the very conservative Texas Panhandle. That's an extraordinarily strong number. Beto got 30% in 2018.
Here's a wild result: In early returns, every statewide Democratic candidate is leading the Republican by double digits in Tarrant County, the top bellwether county we're keeping an eye on.
No results from the Rio Grande Valley — yet, where the Democrats, especially Talarico, spent a lot of time. We’re also watching three congressional races down there that Republicans hoped to sweep. We’ll learn soon whether their efforts to redistrict the state paid off.
Early returns in the closely watched State Board of Education District 2 race, representing the Rio Grande Valley, have Democrat Thomas Ray Garcia leading Republican Victoria Hinojosa 54% to 46%, with roughly 14% of votes counted.
The seat is currently occupied by Republican LJ Francis, who narrowly won in 2022 but lost in the March GOP primary.
Early voting in Collin County has Talarico with an edge. Collin County is a really big bellwether suburb. It's never gone blue, and it's the home county of Ken Paxton.
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An eye-opening early vote total: James Talarico with a nearly 10-point lead in traditionally conservative Brazos County, home of Texas A&M University. These early voting results are showing some real surprises, and Republicans are going to need a very strong showing on Election Day to erase these deficits.
Like in 2018, Talarico's performance atop the ticket could pull Democrats across the finish line in down-ballot races, including for the Texas House. Talarico's eye-popping leads in the suburbs are looking especially problematic for the GOP: state Rep. Caroline Harris Davila is trailing significantly in Williamson County's House District 52, and state Rep. Gary Gates is narrowly behind his Democratic opponent in Fort Bend County. Democrats currently hold 62 seats in the 150-seat Texas House, meaning they need to net 14 to claim the majority.
Early voting results so far show Jon Rosenthal outperforming his opponent, Bo French, in counties the GOP commanded in the primary runoff, including Denton and Tarrant in North Texas, and industrial Corpus Christi and Fort Bend counties.
To be at James Talarico’s election night HQ in deep-blue Austin is to be engulfed in cheers every time Steve Kornacki on the big screen shows us a Democratic lead across the country, even though the night is still young. The mood here is festive, with a band playing in the background and kids slurping down Amy’s ice cream cones.
An interesting early data point from the Panhandle: Talarico so far has 29% of the vote in Randall County, which includes Amarillo. Beto O'Rourke got just 20 percent in 2018.
