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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Harris County, home to Houston, one of the country’s largest cities, is expected to release its first total Election Day vote count in the next 20 minutes. Early voting totals showed Talarico leading Paxton 66 to 32 and Hinojosa 64 to 34, with similar results for Democrats down the ballot. By mid-afternoon, Harris County surpassed its previous midterm election turnout record, with more than 1.31 million ballots cast through Election Day.
Hard to overstate how stunning tonight’s results are. Within seconds, Greg Abbott concedes to Gina Hinojosa for governor and James Talarico is declared winner in the U.S. Senate race. It will take time to fully understand the impact on governing in Texas and politics in America. But suffice to say that a lot will change with a legislative session a couple months away. Meantime, all eyes turn to whether Democrats can flip the Texas House — a possibility that seemed unimaginable just a few hours ago.
In South Texas, Democrats were hoping to revert back to 2020 or even 2018 margins with Latino voters. But Talarico is running ahead of even Hillary Clinton in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties.
Jon Rosenthal has declared victory in the contentious, abnormally controversial race for Railroad Commissioner on X, writing: “Tonight’s results show that experience and good governance matters,” adding that Texans sent a message “that the politics of hate and division do not win in the Lone Star State.”
We are still waiting for results from Lubbock County. I’m hearing reports that at least one polling location is having to recount their votes, which could delay results by another few hours.
With Gov. Greg Abbott conceding defeat, this means the end of Mike Morath as Texas’ all-powerful education commissioner — whom Gina Hinojosa vowed to fire if she won. Morath’s term is set to end in early 2027.
This could also have major implications for the ongoing state takeovers of school districts in cities like Houston and Fort Worth.
Johnson’s win makes him the first Democrat elected to the Attorney General’s office in over 30 years, since Democrat Dan Morales won the office in 1994.
Democrat Nathan Johnson has declared victory in the attorney general’s race, another sign of the truly devastating night for Republicans down ballot. Under Paxton, the Texas AG’s office became the tip of the spear of a national conservative legal movement. To see that agency’s powers handed to Democrats has implications nationwide. The AP has not yet called this race.
Just deafening cheers at Talarico HQ as Talarico and Hinojosa were declared winners in short succession. People hugged, screamed and cried as CNN displayed their race calls one on top of the other.
On CBS News, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett says, responding to the news in Texas: "Our lives are going to change."
Abbott with wife behind him tells supporters: “I love our state. It has been an honor to serve it. And know that we are leaving Texas in far better shape than it's ever been. Together, we've accomplished a lot. “
AP race call makes it official: James Talarico has won the U.S. Senate race. The last time a Democrat won a Senate race in Texas, in 1988, Tom Landry was still coaching the Cowboys and Talarico was not yet born.
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/
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.
