Democrats End 30-Year GOP Control of Texas State Government

Democrats ended a 30-year Republican hold on the top state offices in Texas on Tuesday night. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott to take the governorship. In the U.S. Senate race, state Rep. James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton. These victories break a streak of unbroken Republican control over statewide elected positions that began in the late 1990s.

State Rep. Vikki Goodwin declared victory over three-term Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. She will inherit a powerful role but may face changes to her legislative authority. Senate members set operational rules at the start of each session. Because Republicans maintain strong influence in the chamber, they could vote to modify rules to limit the lieutenant governor's power over committee appointments and bill assignments.

Voting patterns shifted sharply across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Dallas County remained a Democratic stronghold as expected. Neighboring suburban counties of Tarrant, Denton, and Collin all voted for statewide Democratic candidates. In 2024, those three counties voted for Republicans. For Collin County, this result marks the first time in decades that voters backed Democrats in statewide contests.

Key border counties along the Rio Grande Valley flipped back to the Democrats. This rebound reversed Republican gains seen in the 2024 election cycle. The shift brought a heavily Latino voting base back into the Democratic column in South Texas.

A redistricting push in 2025 appeared to backfire for the GOP. President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw congressional districts to gain five additional U.S. House seats. Instead, Republican candidates lost four of the five newly drawn seats. They secured only the 32nd Congressional District in North Texas. Democrats flipped two other Republican-held seats. Texas Republicans will hold 24 seats in the U.S. House, a net loss of one seat from the outgoing Congress.

Republicans now risk losing their majority in the Texas House of Representatives. Control requires 76 of the 150 total seats. Democrats needed a net gain of 14 seats to take control of the chamber. So far, Democrats have flipped six Republican-held seats and hold leads in more than a dozen uncalled races. If those leads hold as final mail-in and absentee ballots are tallied, the chamber will shift away from GOP control.