Choice words from Jon Rosenthal, the Dem candidate for Railroad Commissioner, about his opponent Bo French: “The dude that posted the online poll last summer asking who’s a bigger threat to America, and the only two choices were Muslims and Jews, tonight this Jewish engineer sends that motherfu***r home.”

Hinojosa becomes the first Latina governor of Texas. She will be the third woman to hold the office in the state’s history. The last was Democrat Ann Richards.

It would be hard to overstate what a political earthquake this is for Texas. As governor, Abbott has consolidated power and become one of the party’s most prominent standard bearers. While Hinojosa won’t immediately have the same influence he did, it’s still a seismic shift for so many facets of Texans lives. https://www.texastribune.org/2026/10/30/texas-governor-power-2026-greg-abbott-gina-hinojosa-split-government/

Abbott tells the crowd he has conceded to Hinojosa.

A surreal moment: Gov. Greg Abbott has taken the stage at his watch party to concede. He opens by saying "it has been the joy of my life" to serve as governor. He has occupied the governor's mansion since 2015 and won all three of his prior gubernatorial races by double-digit margins. He confirms that he called Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, to concede.

Travis County, home to Austin, has early vote results in. Talarico is leading Paxton 80-19 and Hinojosa is leading Abbott 78-21, with similar wipeouts down ballot. The county is left-leaning but these are still wide margins.

Gina Hinojosa with 71.8% of the early vote in Hidalgo County, among the highest vote share she has shown in any county so far and right behind Talarico. Hinojosa ran as a proud daughter of the RGV, although she now lives in Austin.

Hidalgo County is finally reporting their early voting numbers showing Talarico with 74% of the votes and Bobby Pulido with 75% of the votes in the race for TX’s 15th Congressional District.

Delivering remarks at his election night watch party, Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat of Cypress, said he was about to be the next Railroad Commissioner. “It’s still early, but it’s looking good,” he told the ebullient crowd. The Associated Press has yet to call the race.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick back in April: “We’re going to have a tough time holding the Texas House.”

House Speaker Dustin Burrows and others immediately rejected the idea at the time.

Via my colleague, Alejandro Serrano: texastribune.org/2026/04/08/texas-house-dan-patrick-gop-majority-2026-midterms-cornyn-paxton

President Donald Trump said Republicans would have won "in a landslide" if he were on the ballot in a short social media post — his first since the polls closed in Texas and across the country. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117556082339815131

I know all eyes are on how many seats Rs are going to be able to keep tonight, but in Corpus Christi, water security was on the ballot. Here, all city council members and the mayor were up for reelection and based on early votes, all races (except for one) are being led by candidates in favor of a city-funded desalination plant.

I hope you are enjoying the Tribune’s live blog. We’re a nonprofit newsroom funded by readers like you, not a media conglomerate or private owner. Will you chip in tonight to keep independent Texas reporting strong? Donate here.

Senator John Cornyn has extended his congratulations to James Talarico: "I look forward to meeting him and offering my assistance with his transition as he prepares to serve Texans in the U.S. Senate."

At Gov. Abbott’s watch party in downtown Austin, most of the enthusiasm was for the band playing hits from the 1970s and 1980s like “My Sharona” and “Footloose.” As the crowd was coralled to the stage from the bar and buffet area at the club Speakeasy, all awaiting Abbott to address the crowd, many expressed surprise at the nightlong lead Hinojosa had over the incumbent governor. Houston Realtor Jennifer Jacks, 52, believes it was Paxton who is dragging the vote down for Abbott. She said she likes Paxton and voted for him, adding that people make mistakes but she thinks the opposition to Paxton has been a major obstacle for Republicans. “I think it’s the whole Paxton thing,” she said. “And Trump haters.”

That's now two of the redrawn seats where Republicans have conceded. We're in potential dummymander territory.

At the Gina Hinojosa for Governor watch party out on the patio, Caitlin McFarland, 43, did a little jig as CNN announced that Democrats had taken control of the U.S. House. McFarland, who helped with Hinojosa fundraising, said she was hearing that some outlet had called the Texas Senate race for Talarico, and it was giving her hope for Hinojosa. Still, she’s cautiously optimistic. “We’re all very nervous, if 2016 taught us nothing,” McFarland said. Next to her, a newfound friend of hers and fellow Austinite Stacie Cline, 50, chimed in. “It’s kind of like PTSD from the Beto years,” Cline said, referring to 2018 when Democrat Beto O’Rourke came within a few points of unseating Sen. Ted Cruz. “It’s restoring humanity. This is hope. This is truly hope.” McFarland said she doesn’t think Talarico or Hinojosa winning would change her life tomorrow — they’d each be up against their own challenges — but the message it’d send from her fellow Texans would reassure her. “I want to know everyone else in my state is also voting for sensibility,” McFarland said.

Eric Flores, the Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in Texas’ 34th Congressional District, conceded the race. The district was among those redrawn last year to help Republicans.

I covered the Colorado statehouse for several years during an era of divided government. It was a gift to then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat. It allowed him to duck ultra-partisan bills. If the Texas House flips, but not the Senate, Hinojosa would see a similar benefit if she is also elected.

The conversations tonight among Republicans and Democrats that the Texas House is likely to flip are remarkable. Here is how uncertain any predictions appeared heading into Election Day. In March, Gina Hinojosa said “If we flipped 12 in 2018 and we’re gearing up for a bigger wave in 2026, you better believe we can flip this House.” But as recently as September, she sounded less sure. At the Texas Tribune festival she said, “We’re not going to have a Democratic-dominated Legislature. That’s just reality. I live in reality.” To be fair, a Dem-dominated Lege would require the Senate to flip, too.