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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Stunning early vote totals in Cameron County. Talarico with a 40-point lead from the early vote. Hinojosa with a 37-point lead. Trump won the Rio Grande Valley County by nearly six points.
"Losing my mind." "I'm stunned." "Did not see the size of this wave coming." Political consultants from both sides of the aisle say the early vote results have blown out whatever they were expecting. A lot more results to come, of course, but safe to say this is not going the way Rs hoped
Speaking of county results, we are still waiting on Harris and Travis, home to Houston and Austin, respectively.
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A reader asks: I am following the State election site that is updated every 5 minutes. Why are the numbers on that “official” site so different than numbers being shown on media sites?
Our election results page is powered by the Associated Press, which combines official Texas Secretary of State results with numbers pulled directly from certain counties. Counties are the ones that actually do the vote tallying, and the state compiles the totals from around the state. So in some cases our numbers — and other outlets’ — will be a little ahead of the state’s.
A few Republican incumbents in the U.S. House are probably sweating right now. Keep an eye on Lance Gooden, Craig Goldman and Pete Sessions. And the 32nd Congressional District, which was the safest of the seats Republicans redrew last summer, also looks to be in danger.
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.

