‘We just took back Texas’: Talarico celebrates historic Senate win over Paxton – Dallas News

‘We just took back Texas’: Talarico celebrates historic Senate win over Paxton  Dallas News

Democrat James Talarico, a young Democratic lawmaker who urged Texans to put aside partisan divisions, won election to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, breaking his party’s three-decade losing streak and upending the political order in a state long dominated by Republicans. The Austin state representative, after a campaign built around lowering costs and fighting corruption, defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the nation’s most expensive and closely watched Senate contests, according to The Associated Press. It also marked a setback for President Donald Trump, who promoted Paxton as a loyal ally at rallies across Texas. Trump urged voters to treat the contest as if his own name were on the ballot in an effort to preserve his party’s control in Washington.

Talarico told cheering supporters in Austin that voters had reclaimed power from wealthy donors and defenders of what he called a broken political system. “We just took back Texas," he said. "We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas. We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love.” Talarico laid out an ambitious agenda that includes passing universal healthcare, ending “corrupt foreign wars” and getting money out of politics. “This is a win the size of Texas,” he said.