Many Texas Republicans entered Tuesdayโs election having known November as a formality. They ended the night in the political wilderness trying to make sense of what went so wrong.
Gabby Birenbaum
Gabby Birenbaum is the Washington Correspondent for the Texas Tribune. She covers the Texas congressional delegation and the impact of federal policy on Texas. Gabby previously covered Washington for The Nevada Independent, where she wrote the weekly D.C. Download newsletter and covered the 2024 presidential election and competitive Senate race. Prior to The Nevada Independent, Gabby worked at The Washington Monthly and Vox. Gabby graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and political science. She is a native of Arlington, Virginia and is based in Washington, DC. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, watching movies and being a long-suffering fan of DC sports teams. Her work is supported by a partnership with Report for America.
To report a tip, contact Gabby on Signal at @gabbybirenbaum.05
Texas Republicans’ gerrymander backfires as Democrats gain ground in U.S. House delegation
Republicans lost two U.S. House seats they already controlled and flipped only one of their five gerrymander targets.
Tejano musician Bobby Pulido unseats GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz, flipping key South Texas district
The self-styled โconservative Democratโ recaptured the 15th Congressional District four years after it flipped red, a blow to Republicans who tried to draw themselves more seats in the Rio Grande Valley.
James Talarico defeats Ken Paxton, giving Democrats their first U.S. Senate win in Texas since 1988
The Austin state lawmaker ran on a message that Americaโs true fault line is between not the left and the right, but the wealthy and everyone else. He had not yet been born when Texas last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate.
Hereโs what to watch as Texas wraps its most competitive electoral season in years.
Democrats have forced Republicans to compete from U.S. Senate to railroad commissioner, and early turnout hit a modern-day midterm record. Tuesday night could reshape Texas politics.
Ken Paxton and James Talarico close their Senate campaigns on home turf
To win, Paxton needs to keep the margin close in Collin County, his political home base. Talarico must earn epic returns in Travis County, the bluest part of the state.
Paxton vs. Talarico: Five things to watch in Texasโ tight U.S. Senate race
A swing back among Latino voters, Harris County turnout and Republicans skipping the Senate race are among the trends weโll be tracking as returns come in.
With U.S. Senate control at stake, Republicans fear the once-unthinkable: a blue Texas
Ken Paxton and James Talarico are neck-and-neck in the country’s most expensive U.S. Senate race on record. The outcome’s ripple effects will extend years.
These are the most competitive November races up and down Texas’ midterm ballot
Texas has an unusually large slate of competitive races for the state Legislature and U.S. House this year. Hereโs our list of contests to watch.
Six charts that explain how Texasโ suburbs became a midterm battleground
The stateโs fast-growing suburban counties have gotten bigger, more diverse and bluer over time.

