Democrat James Talarico won the crucial Senate election in Texas, considered one of the biggest upsets in this U.S. midterm election.
He defeated Republican opponent Ken Paxton, marking the first time since 1988 that a Democrat won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas. This victory not only rewrote the political landscape of Texas for decades, but also further consolidated the Democratic Party's control of the U.S. Congress.
Talarico, a teacher by training, was little known until last year. He made the rising cost of living under the Republican administration the main theme of his campaign to win support from voters.
Paxton, a Republican, has repeatedly campaigned against Donald Trump and portrayed Talarico as too progressive for Texas.
At a watch party in Austin, the Texas capital, Talarico's supporters went wild when television announced his victory.
They hugged, kissed and toasted. Many people said they couldn't believe it would happen.
Talarico took the stage at a formal viewing party at a nearby performing arts center to thunderous applause. "We just took Texas back," he declared.
"We've proven that no amount of money can match the power of the people of Texas."
This refers to his victory over Republican opponent Paxton, whose campaign was backed by the world's richest man, Elon Musk.
During his campaign, he often used religious language, comparing his slim chance of victory to the story of "David defeating Goliath" in the Bible.
"This victory is for every Texan who has ever wondered if anyone was listening," he said. "I hear you, we hear you. Tonight, the world hears you."
For decades, Democrats winning statewide elections has seemed like a pipe dream to Texas liberals.
Texas, the second most populous state in the United States, has been a bastion of conservatism, often promoting Republican policies later copied elsewhere.
But throughout the campaign, polls showed Talarico, a state legislator, gradually breaking out of the traditional political landscape, galvanizing a Texas Democratic base eager for new leadership.
Campaign expenses also soared, and it soon became the most expensive election in the history of the U.S. Senate election, costing more than US$500 million (3.6 billion yuan; NT$15 billion).
Musk injected $158 million into a Super PAC that supports Republican Paxton, and this has become important material for Talarico to attack his opponents.
What is even more surprising is that two members of the Bush family (Bush family), a Republican political family with Texas as its political base, publicly supported Talarico. This move was seen as a harbinger of Paxton's defeat.
Professor Quardricos Driskell, a political science professor at George Washington University, told the BBC that Paxton was one of the main reasons for the Republican Party's defeat, calling him an "objectively bad candidate."
He said Talarico's victory in Texas, coupled with another upset victory over the state's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, on Tuesday (November 3), was "absolutely historic." Abbott's defeat also meant that the Democratic Party won the Texas gubernatorial election for the first time since the 1990s.
"This is not just a tsunami, not just a referendum, this is a bloodbath," Professor Driskel said of Democrats' gains in the Lone Star State. "It's a clear sign that this country wants to go in a different direction."
Talarico defeated her well-known opponent, Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, in the Democratic primary.
Since then, his approval ratings have remained stable despite facing a barrage of negative advertising, including over his past support for transgender rights.
During the campaign, he often spoke of his religious background. His grandfather was a Southern Baptist minister, and he himself studied in seminary, so he often quoted biblical allusions in his speeches.
On the other hand, Paxton, a Republican, has been embroiled in many political scandals in recent years.
In 2023, he was impeached by his own party on corruption charges and was later acquitted by the state Senate. He was also charged with federal fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but the case was later dropped.
Trump has traveled to Texas many times to support Paxton and other Republican candidates, and even held campaign events in areas that had previously been stable supporters of the Republican Party, showing that top Republicans are worried about turnout.
Voters are unhappy with high prices, including gasoline, and blame Trump's tariffs and war with Iran.
In addition, voters in the US-Mexico border areas and Latinos are also dissatisfied with Trump's immigration policies.
Although the number of illegal border crossings has dropped significantly under Trump, an issue that has been an important issue for Texas voters, polls show that Trump has significantly lost support among Latino voters.
Latinos make up about one-third of Texas' population. Multiple surveys since late summer have shown that a majority of Texas Latino voters now disapprove of Trump's policies, while many had switched to supporting him in the 2024 election.
