Katherine Sparks is very familiar with the State Capitol’s grounds.

She’s gone many times to protest an array of policies. As a middle school teacher in Austin, she holds education issues close to her heart.

Tuesday night, for the first time, she came to the Capitol to celebrate. Within minutes of Gina Hinojosa and James Talarico claiming victory, she rushed to downtown Austin.

“I just feel like the hope is back again,” Sparks said, wearing a bright blue sweatshirt.

Sparks was joined by more than 100 revelers who hurried to the Capitol to see it for themselves: a blue Texas.

A crowd of revelers — still processing a mix of joy and shock — gathered under the live oak trees lining the Capitol’s entrance. Bubbles floated filled the air, joined by a mix of cheers and honks from people driving by. Some were still in their pajamas because they wanted to get there as soon as they could. Celebrations lasted well after midnight.

“I teach the poorest of poor kids, and Talarico has had my vote since day one,” she said. Looking at the glowing Capitol, Sparks added: “We took it back, it’s ours.”

No Democrat has been elected to statewide office since 1994, meaning that for much of the younger-tending crowd, this election marked the first time they witnessed a Democrat secure a statewide seat in Texas — let alone a slate of them.

Hilary Delham, 37, hopped in a car with her partner and headed straight to the Capitol with the windows down doing her best impression of Paul Revere: “I was yelling at the top of my lungs to spread the news, we won.”

“I think that women all over Texas should feel a lot safer tonight,” she said. “My heart feels so full knowing that Gina Hinojsa is in office. I really feel like she’s going to address a lot of the things that Texas women have been worried about.”

Many in the crowd had never celebrated a Democratic statewide victory.

“My entire conscious life has been just Republicans,” said Sean Dobbs, 19, who was a second grader when Gov. Greg Abbott’s first term began.
”This has just been something I can’t really fathom happening here. It’s incredible.”

College students plucked campaign signs from campus grounds and local lawns on their way to the Capitol, where they waved the oversized signs to a stream of honking cars. Some embraced, others danced and skipped to blaring music.

Jayden Lacaille, 19, hoisted one end of a Democratic campaign sign she’d snagged while walking from the University of Texas at Austin; another student — a total stranger, she said — held the other end.

“I’ve never been so happy ever,” Lacaille said. “What I really want is for all of us to feel that equality and feel like every one of our votes matter, and to feel like we all have somebody looking out for us in our corner, and I feel like Talarico is going to be that for us.”

For Alma Zamora, a 27-year-old transgender person, the election results mean they can stay in Texas.

“I have, for the last few years, thought about leaving, but this is where my community is,” Zamora said. “I don’t feel like I should be driven out of my own state.”

Kaye Schultz, 73, moved to Texas in 1989 and said since Ann Richards’ term as governor, she’s been waiting for a Democrat to fill the seat again. Banging a spoon on a pot, Schultz cheered along with the crowd.

For her, the evening’s election results resembled “hope fulfilled,” and “that there are people who really think enough is enough, and there’s enough of us to make a difference.”

Schultz feared she would not see a Democrat lead Texas in her lifetime. But with a wide smile she said, “Hope is a thing with feathers.”