November 4, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Democrats sweep Texas, likely flipping Texas House, making gains in Senate

Two closely watched races are Democrat James Talarico against Republican Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa. As a packed crowd of hundreds of supporters chanted her name, Vikki Goodwin stepped up to the podium on election night and claimed victory in the race for Texas Lieutenant Governor. As of 2 a.m., the Associated Press projects Goodwin wins the Texas lieutenant governor’s race. Democrat Nathan Johnson declared victory as attorney general Tuesday, breaking the GOP’s nearly three-decade grip on the powerful office and promising a new direction after Ken Paxton’s turbulent tenure. "This is a tremendous honor, and a tremendous responsibility," Johnson said in a statement. "Texans voted for an attorney general who will represent them and the interests of our state, and who will above all uphold the rule of law. That’s what I intend to do."

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Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal has won the race for Texas railroad commissioner, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Bo French, who faced widespread backlash in his own party and beyond for anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and antisemitic comments. Rosenthal will be one of three members of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas production in the state. Members serve six-year terms. Rosenthal, a mechanical engineer, campaigned on a platform of lowering energy costs for Texans, implementing guardrails for data centers and weatherization requirements for gas production, and banning industry donations to commissioners. Democratic challenger Benjamin Flores held a substantial lead Tuesday night over Republican incumbent Dawn Buckingham in the race for Texas land commissioner, capturing nearly 58% of the vote as election results continued to come in across the state. According to unofficial results reported by the Associated Press, Flores received 2,541,836 votes, or 57.8%, compared with Buckingham’s 1,797,918 votes, or 40.9%. Third-party candidate Neill Snider trailed with 58,866 votes, accounting for 1.3% of the reported vote.

Democrats win the US House, taking full control of Congress

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, delivering a decisive rebuke of Republican governance in Washington and ushering in a new era of congressional resistance to President Donald Trump. Tuesday’s midterm elections laid bare voters’ deep frustrations over high prices, the Iran war and concerns over government corruption. Democrats routed their rivals across the map, flipping states that have voted Republican for decades and that Trump won by double digits just two years ago. That includes James Talarico’s stunning Senate victory in Texas, where no Democrat had won statewide office in more than 30 years, and Annie Andrews’ upset victory over Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. Trump had thrown his full weight behind both losing candidates. In Michigan, progressive Abdul El-Sayed — one of a crop of left-wing candidates who prevailed in Democratic primaries — topped Republican Mike Rogers. Even Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a battle-tested survivor of difficult elections, lost to Democrat Troy Jackson.

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The results marked a fundamental unraveling of the coalition that returned Trump to the White House two years ago, with young people and Latinos moving away from Republicans, according to The AP Voter Poll. Only about one-third of Hispanic voters said they backed the Republican in their local U.S. House races. It was all a major blow to Trump, who spent nearly every day of the last month holding rallies to energize his supporters but was unable to stop a wipeout. While Trump has proven adept at steamrolling efforts to rein him in, Democratic control will profoundly reshape Trump’s final two years in office and hamstring his legislative agenda. Party leaders have signaled they’ll use their new power to ensure Trump’s final two years in office are dominated by a series of investigations of top members of his administration and deeper scrutiny of how he’s enriched his family. Impeachment of Trump and his Cabinet officials is not off the table. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets for investigations. In celebratory events Tuesday night, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer called the results a “generational remake of the Senate map.” Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “the American people are crying out for transformational change.” Trump immediately sought to shift blame for his party’s losses, posting on his social media site before polls even closed on the West Coast that he wasn’t on the ballot — even though he spent weeks asking voters to act like he was. He vowed to veto Democrat-controlled legislation, sharing a picture of a red baseball cap with “VETO” stenciled in the style of his trademark “Make America Great Again” campaign swag.

‘Total repudiation’: Dems sweep Texas’ top battleground Tarrant County in historic rout

In a stunning victory, Democrats swept nearly every race from the statewide level down to countywide offices in Tarrant County, an urban center that was considered a pivotal battleground county this cycle and that has historically been the largest Republican-controlled county in the country. Early vote totals showed a rout for Democrats early in the evening, with Senate candidate James Talarico pulling just shy of 60 percent, about a 22-point margin over Ken Paxton, along with every other statewide Democrat winning as well. Democratic County Judge candidate Alisa Simmons beat her opponent, County Judge Tim O’Hare, a controversial hardline Republican, by about 16 percent, signaling the first win for a Democrat at the county level since 1986. “The results are a total repudiation of the Republican extremism that’s taken hold of Tarrant County Republican leadership recently,” Brandon Rottinghaus, political science professor at the University of Houston, told the Texas Observer Tuesday night.

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“There were Republican voters who felt conservatives were taking it too far and Democrats who were happy to vote against the GOP, and that’s a toxic mix that’s going to make Republicans suffer.” Ahead of the Election Day rout, Tarrant was expected to be highly competitive turf. Top statewide candidates, including Talarico and Paxston, along with Governor Greg Abbott, all made the rounds around Tarrant in the first days of early voting. Traditionally a GOP stronghold, flickers of a changing political dynamic in the North Texas county, which encompasses the cities of Fort Worth and Arlington and several booming suburbs, began when voters there favored Democrat Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate in 2018. The prospect of a possible purple-ish wave continued in 2020 when Joe Biden beat Donald Trump, albeit by a razor-thin margin. In 2024, Democrat Colin Allred won Tarrant over incumbent Ted Cruz by less than 2,000 votes (though Trump carried the county by 5 points) again stoking the idea that the tides may be turning.

Musk’s Tesla, SpaceX slide as Democrats sweep Congress

Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. fell ahead of Wednesday’s US stock-market opening as Democrats swept to control of Congress, sharpening investor concern over the future of the Republican megadonor’s key holdings. Tesla was down about 5% in premarket trading while SpaceX dropped 6.9% after the extent of the rebuke of President Donald Trump and his party became clear. That compares with small gains on futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices. Few CEOs are as closely tied to the president as Musk, the world’s richest person, who had poured nearly $450 million into GOP coffers and urged his 240 million X followers to vote against Democrats. For investors in Tesla or SpaceX, a so-called blue wave in the midterm elections will come as a double blow. It will fan concerns about tighter regulations around artificial intelligence, and also creates more uncertainty over a potential merger of the electric vehicle maker and the rocket, AI and satellite giant.

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“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” Musk wrote in a joking post on X. “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.” Heading into the midterms, the risk was particularly acute that Musk and his businesses lie at the fault line of several divisive issues: Tesla and SpaceX are forging ahead in the AI race, their potential mega-merger raises regulatory questions, and access to a military version of the Starlink satellite service has become a point of tension between the US, Ukraine and Russia. SpaceX, which vaulted into the ranks of the world’s most valuable companies when it went public earlier this year, rakes in billions of dollars through US government contracts. The stock is largely treading water since its June initial public offering, holding on to a $1.9 trillion market valuation. Tesla shares have rallied 34% since their late-July nadir amid investor optimism surrounding AI projects and the potential combination with SpaceX.

State Stories

‘We’ve had a difficult night’: Inside Ken Paxton’s election night party

Around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening in Dallas, shortly after the Associated Press announced that Democrat James Talarico won his bid for the closely-watched U.S. Senate race in Texas, his opponent — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — took to the stage to speak to supporters at his Election Night watch party. “I want to thank all my friends in this room,” Paxton said. Supporters had filtered into a ballroom at the Westin Galleria Dallas hotel, adorned with Texas and American flags, plus a bar and a buffet. Fox News was projected on a screen showing results from races across the country as music filled the room. “I love Texas,” Paxton said in his speech. “I always love Texas. We will still fight for this place. We will fight for our country.”

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Robert Raab, of Frisco, is a pastor in McKinney. Raab told reporters Tuesday night that he believes Talarico is a good candidate — but he doesn’t align with Raab’s religious values. “I think Talarico has great political instincts,” Raab said from inside the ballroom. “He’s a good campaigner. He’s got energy. He’s personable. I get the appeal, but he’s too liberal for me, and he doesn’t represent the Christianity [that] I think is biblical Christianity.” Joshua Feuerstein, a Dallas preacher and entrepreneur who was also at the event, said Paxton has a “testicular fortitude” needed to represent Texans. “We don’t need a left-leaning libtard,” Feuerstein told the Star-Telegram. “We need somebody like Ken Paxton in office. James Talarico just does not align with the values of Texan people. He just doesn’t.” Steve Meng, of Irving, said at around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday night that he wasn’t feeling quite as optimistic as he was earlier in the night. What would it mean for him, the Star-Telegram asked, if Talarico won? “It’s going to mean that I have to suffer through him and his ‘I dream of trans children, God’s non-binary, and welcome mats at the southern border for six years,’ Meng said. “Hopefully, we’ll have in 2032 a candidate that’ll be great.”

Incumbent Mark Henry wins Galveston County Judge against Albert Smith

Republican Galveston County Judge Mark Henry defeated Albert "Al" Smith in the November general election. According to unofficial results from all voting centers, Henry received about 57% of the vote compared to about 43% for Smith. Smith ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, whereas Henry faced challenger Chris Kinard in the Republican primary earlier this year.

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directly to your inbox. The Galveston County judge serves as the presiding officer of the county’s governing body, the commissioners court. County judges are elected to four-year terms and face no term limits. Henry, running for a fifth term, was first elected as Galveston County Judge in 2010. The incumbent touted an almost 50% cut in the county's property tax rate throughout his 15 years serving as county judge. He also promoted his efforts in cutting a significant amount of the county's debt and earning the highest bond rating possible for the county. Henry ran on lowering taxes, increasing law enforcement and reducing the size of government to achieve more efficiency. He previously received endorsements from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as well as state Reps. Dennis Paul and Greg Bonnen, according to his social media.

Democratic challenger Heather Jefts wins Williamson County Judge race

Democratic challenger Heather Jefts has defeated incumbent Williamson County Judge Steve Snell, giving Democrats hold of the top position in Williamson County government for the first time in decades. Ms. Jefts, a former Cedar Park City Council member, earned an estimated 134,371 votes in the judge race, about 55.78% of the 240,892 votes cast. "I want to thank Judge Snell for his service and for a hard-fought race. We both love this county, and I will be a county judge for everyone, regardless of who you voted for or whether you voted," Ms. Jefts said in a Statement to the Sun early Wednesday morning.

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"Last December, we started this movement with a humble ambition: a progressive, accountable, and responsive county government. Tonight, that ambition has become a mandate," We built one of the most robust democratic campaigns in recent Williamson County history. We traveled this county from Florence to Coupland through our Real Talk series and met hundreds of friends and neighbors. From front porches in Taylor to folding tables in Liberty Hill, we heard worries about rising costs, crowded roads, and whether county leadership was actually listening. Those conversations shaped every plank of this campaign, and they give me hope for the thriving future that awaits Williamson County.

Democrat Leticia Gutierrez leads Republican Mealer in the race to represent Texas’ 9th

Democrat Leticia Gutierrez is leading the race for Texas' 9th Congressional District, covering the eastern parts of Harris County and all of Liberty County. Gutierrez's lead could amount to an upset after Texas House Republicans redrew the district to be friendlier to conservative candidates. Republican candidate Alex Mealer, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, had held a six-point lead in the polls leading up to the election. As of 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Gutierrez led Mealer with 57% of the vote, according to early results from the Associated Press.

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“This was not meant to happen,” Gutierrez said to supporters at her victory party. “But let me just say I’ve defied odds all of my life. This is not new to me at all.” The race for the district had tightened considerably since the March primary amid rising gas and grocery prices, a spike in publicized excessive force allegations of immigration officers across Texas, and President Trump's unpopular war with Iran. After shaking hands with roughly 50 supporters in the room, Mealer spoke to the crowd and thanked them for the work they’d done for her campaign. “Appreciate all of your guys’ hard work,” Mealer said at the Daniel’s BBQ and Meat Market in Baytown. “We’re very proud of the campaign we ran, but obviously it was very challenging backdrop.”

Letitia Plummer declares victory in Harris County Judge race

Former Houston councilwoman Letitia Plummer declared victory in the race for Harris County judge. As of about 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Plummer led Sanchez with nearly 62% of the vote compared to Sanchez’s 38%, according to early unofficial results from the county. Plummer is the first African American to be elected Harris County judge. “I did not sign up for this job because I thought it would be easy, because nothing in my life has,” Plummer said. “I ran because I believe that I can absolutely make a difference as your public servant with your support.”

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Shortly after 9 p.m., Sanchez conceded the election to Plummer. “The voters of Harris County have made their decision, and while it’s not the outcome that we had hoped for, I respect the judgment of the people that we sought to serve,” Sanchez said. “I just spoke with Dr. Letitia Plummer. I congratulated her and conceded the race.” Plummer, a dentist by trade, started her political career with a bid for Congress in 2018. The effort fell short before she was elected to serve as the Houston City Council's at-large councilmember in 2019. She resigned from her seat on city council earlier this year after announcing her intention to seek the county judge's position, held by current Democratic County Judge Lina Hidalgo for seven years. The former councilwoman will be charged with leading Harris County Commissioners Court, a five-member governing body that oversees the operations of the county. The court deals with countywide road and infrastructure projects, sets yearly property taxes and makes funding decisions on flood control initiatives.

Houston Democrats lead some GOP-held Texas House races, returns show

The “blue wave” in Houston could extend all the way to the Texas House of Representatives, with Democratic challengers leading several Republican incumbents in local races, according to unofficial returns. GOP state Reps. Lacey Hull, Charles Cunningham, Mike Schofield, Valoree Swanson and Gary Gates all were trailing in their reelection bids in early returns Tuesday evening. Republicans also were trailing in a couple of races for seats vacated by GOP incumbents, despite unprecedented efforts by Gov. Greg Abbott to recruit candidates and spend millions in races across the county.

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Former Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart was trailing Democrat Stefanie Bord in state House District 126. And Republican Scott Bowen was losing to Albert Witliff, a Democrat, in the race to replace state Rep. Dennis Paul, who is running for Mayes Middleton's seat in the state senate. Other Republican incumbents were running races that were too close to call early Wednesday morning. State Rep. Matt Morgan, R-Katy, was in a virtual tie with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Markowitz, and Republican Reps. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, and Jeff Barry, R-Pearland, both held slim leads in their own reelection bids. Incumbent Houston Democrats in the Texas Legislature, meanwhile, were on track to coast to reelection. And Houston’s delegation to Austin will feature some other new faces, with several lawmakers retiring or seeking other offices next year. Tom Butler, a Republican, is leading the race to fill the vacancy left by state Rep. Briscoe Cain in Deer Park. And three new Democratic candidates won races to replace outgoing Democrats. Odus Evbagharu will replace state Rep. Jon Rosenthal in HD 135, after Rosenthal decided to run for Texas Railroad Commissioner. Staci Childs will replace the retiring state Rep. Alma Allen in HD 131, and Darlene Breaux won her bid to replace state Rep. Hubert Vo in HD 149, having beat Vo in the Democratic primary.

Cy-Fair ISD bond and tax increase rejected

Voters in Cy-Fair ISD shot down the district's proposed $1.6 billion bond and a tax rate increase, according to unofficial results Tuesday night. None of the measures in Texas' third-largest district received more than 37% support from early voters, with double-digit failure margins. The unofficial results appear to counter the support for public education in November 2025, when Cy-Fair ISD voters flipped the political tilt of its board by electing three pro-public education members. This fall, the new board of trustuees asked taxpayers to consider a tax rate increase — which would generate $100 million in new revenue — and to approve a $1.6 billion bond across four propositions for facility repairs, technology and security upgrades and athletics improvements.

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Democrat Burks ousts incumbent Republican Sorrells in Tarrant County DA rematch

Tiffany Burks, a former longtime homicide prosecutor who campaigned on a pledge to implement a culture of mentorship at the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office as it tackles violent crime, on Tuesday beat a Republican incumbent to become the county’s first Black top prosecutor. Burks won 55.96% of the vote, according to the complete vote center report from Tarrant County Elections Administration. Phil Sorrells, who was seeking a second term, received 44.04% of the vote. Burks, a Democrat, is a former deputy criminal division chief at the office she will lead beginning in January. The race was a rematch. Sorrells defeated Burks by 6.5 percentage points in 2022. Burks’ transition team is at work.

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“We’ve already determined the organizational chart of the office, what that will look like, who we need and the type of experience we need in those positions,” Burks said in an interview in mid-October. Prosecutor assignment changes are likely, as are departures at the office’s highest levels. “For the most part, the biggest change is going to be the hierarchy and the structure of the office, and the people at the top in leadership will definitely change,” Burks said. Burks said the people with whom she has discussed rejoining the office are former prosecutors who have significant experience and can help train and mentor new lawyers. Burks said she would build a major crimes unit to be staffed by a deputy chief who has deep experience. Prosecutors in the unit will work closely with the narcotics, gang and homicide units at law enforcement agencies throughout the county. Burks, who spent her youth in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, has said morale is low in Sorrells’ DA’s office. In the interview, she said she would correct what she considers office supervision errors. Sorrells, who grew up in Lubbock, pointed during the campaign to reduced crime rates. In an interview, Sorrells, a former county criminal court judge, suggested that his office was a significant contributor to a reduction in crime in Tarrant County during the three most recent consecutive years.

Nydia Cardenas declares victory in Tarrant Precinct 4 race over Manny Ramirez

Democrat Nydia Cardenas declared victory over Republican incumbent Manny Ramirez shortly before midnight. According to unofficial results, she will be the next Precinct 4 commissioner in Tarrant County. When she called it, Cardenas had 51.91% of the votes, with 190 vote centers of 223 reporting. Ramirez had 48.09%. Cardenas will serve as commissioner beginning on Jan. 1, 2027, through Dec. 31, 2030. “I think the margin could probably narrow, but I think it would be very hard for him to come out on top at this point,” Cardenas said in an interview with the Star-Telegram. Ramirez conceded the race at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, wishing her success in her new responsibility in serving northwest Tarrant County.

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“Congratulations to Nydia Cardenas on her victory,” Ramirez said in a statement to the Star-Telegram. “It has been an honor to serve the people of Precinct 4, and I’m proud of what we accomplished together.” Once all the vote centers reported around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, Cardenas was still in the lead. She received 51.80% of the votes, and Ramirez had 48.20%. Cardenas will be one of three Democrats on the Tarrant commissioners court, joining Alisa Simmons. Simmons is the Democrat who overthrew Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare in his race for re-election. The Precinct 2 race has yet to be called as of midnight Wednesday, but Democrat Jared Williams is ahead of Republican Tony Tinderholt, a state representative. With a confirmed Democrat majority on the court, Cardenas promised that the energy in the courtroom will shift. There will be at least two meetings a month, more room for public comment and fewer attendees kicked out of the meeting — all of which were decisions made by the current Republican majority or O’Hare alone. “The opportunity to actually have a real partnership with people who’ve been vocalizing challenges in the community for a long time, that’s going to shift the energy, too,” Cardenas said. “So yeah, I think it’s going to be a really exciting time.”

Bo French ran an openly racist campaign. Texas voters went with his opponent instead.

Bo French really only had one job. Heading into the midterm election, the general wisdom was that French, who has a long history of making overtly racist and bigoted comments, was by far the weakest of the Republican statewide slate but that his race for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission was so far down the ballot that he might sneak past voters’ attention and into office. All he needed to do was maintain a low profile—keep his head down. But French was never going to do that. On September 13, the day after the University of Texas at Austin’s historic comeback win over top-seeded Ohio State University, French began to complain about how many nonwhite students were at the game, claiming that a photo of South Asians joyously celebrating the victory was proof that America was being overrun by “foreigners.”

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The backlash was swift. Republicans such as Karl Rove and Senator John Cornyn urged Texans not to support him, saying that the party would be destroyed if it did not excise bigots such as French from its ranks. Donations flowed into the campaign of French’s Democratic opponent, Texas House member Jon Rosenthal. And by week’s end, French’s name was being uttered at New York City comedy clubs, his long history of xenophobia generating headlines in major national news outlets. Voters had learned who Bo French was. And on Tuesday, they said “no thank you”—electing Rosenthal, a career pipeline engineer and Texas House member from Houston, to the open seat on the three-member Railroad Commission. Practically, the win is relatively minor—Republicans still have a supermajority on the body, which oversees the state’s massive oil and gas industry. But paired with the other victories Tuesday night, it represents a political earthquake: Democrats had not won a statewide seat in Texas in more than thirty years, and in flipping the seat, voters rejected arguably the most openly racist candidate to run for major office in a generation. French has long been a minor fixture in right-wing politics; in the mid-2010s, he was part of a wave of Texas House candidates bankrolled by oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks as part of their movement to remake the state legislature in their far-right image.

Democrat Dexter McCoy defeats Republican Daniel Wong in Fort Bend County judge race

Democrat Dexter McCoy has won the race for Fort Bend County judge, defeating Republican Daniel Wong in Tuesday's election. The victory comes after months of controversy surrounding Wong's authority to serve as interim county judge. Wong, a businessman who founded an engineering company, was seeking a full term after being appointed interim county judge in April. McCoy, a Fort Bend County commissioner, challenged him for the position. Both candidates have backgrounds in county leadership but brought different professional experiences to the race.

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Democrat Simmons declares victory over Republican O’Hare in Tarrant judge race

Republican incumbent Tim O’Hare has conceded in the race for his reelection, granting Democrat Alisa Simmons the win as the next Tarrant County judge. According to unofficial results, Simmons won by 12.8 percentage points. The final tally showed Simmons with 56.40% of the votes to O’Hare’s 43.60%. In the midst of redistricting the commissioners precincts to give Republicans a leg up in elections, the three Republican members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court said their goal was a 4-1 majority. “Well ... that’s what we got,” Simmons said on stage Tuesday evening while declaring victory. After early results were in, all three Democrats were leading over their Republican opponents in the commissioners court races. Simmons is the first Democrat to win the top seat in Tarrant County in 40 years. O’Hare called around 7:30 p.m. to congratulate her, Simmons said. “He asked the question, ‘Did you expect this?’ And I said, ‘Yes,’” Simmons said.

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Early voting results showed Simmons ahead of O’Hare by 15 percentage points when O’Hare called to concede, according to Simmons’ team. The crowd rumbled with excited anticipation waiting for Simmons to enter her celebration at Texas Live! in Arlington. She had 57.70% of the votes, with only early voting results reported, when she declared victory. O’Hare had 42.30%. Simmons will begin her term on Jan. 1, 2027, and serve in the post through Dec. 31, 2030. O’Hare did not respond to the Star-Telegram’s request for comment. Simmons congratulated all the Democrats elected in the Tuesday election “up and down the ballot.” The road to victory was paved by a cohesive movement on the Democrats’ part, she said at her party. O’Hare has been county judge since Jan. 1, 2023. Simmons has served as Precinct 2 commissioner for the same tenure. The two have dueled on commissioners court for years and traded jabs throughout the campaign season.

In blue wave, Democrats flip Northside Texas House seat their party hasn’t won in 45 years, flip back Southside seat

San Antonio’s Texas House District 121 hadn’t elected a Democrat since 1981, but in a blue wave Tuesday night, first-time candidate Zack Dunn toppled incumbent state Rep. Marc LaHood (R-San Antonio). The Northside district includes some of the area’s wealthiest enclaves, and once belonged to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio). It’s long chosen moderate, business-centric Republicans, but as the GOP continued shifting right in recent years, Democrats have been targeting the seat repeatedly, hoping it would finally break their way. “I’m unhinged right now,” Dunn told a crowd of supporters at the Quarry Golf Course minutes before early results came in. “The odds were stacked against us.”

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Last election cycle LaHood was among the roughly dozen Republicans who Gov. Greg Abbott backed over popular GOP incumbents standing in the way of the governor’s much-desired school voucher program. He cruised through a November race against a well-funded Democrat that year, and went on to align with a GOP wing that pushed one of the most conservative agendas in history. In the final weeks before the election, Texas House GOP leaders were working frantically to reframe the narrative around some of those policies, particularly school vouchers. In the last month they spent more than $1 million protecting LaHood, conceded around 10 p.m. “I left it on the field. I think I did it honorably,” LaHood told the San Antonio Report from his party at the Angry Elephant. “I didn’t sell my soul or my personality to get this job, to keep this job, or to come back for re-election, so I feel good, as good as you can. Losing sucks. I mean let’s be honest, losing sucks.” Bexar County is represented by a total of 10 Texas House seats. Going into the night, three were held by Republicans and seven were held by Democrats. A GOP-held seat on the South Side, Texas House District 118, represented by state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio), flipped back to Democrats’ control.

Keller school board’s only incumbent loses reelection bid

A teacher who resigned to run for the Keller school board won her first election to public office by a wide margin, while the only incumbent running lost his bid for reelection. Rachel Weatherington, who challenged political newcomer Geramie Parrish in the Place 4 race, won with 70.18% of the vote with Parrish garnering 29.82%, with all vote centers reporting, according to unofficial results from Tarrant County. In Place 5, Andrew Walsh defeated incumbent Chris Coker. Walsh had 40.69% of the vote to Coker’s 39.86%. Colin Hodges had 19.45%. In Place 6, a special election to fill a one-year term after Charles Randklev resigned to run for Keller City Council, substitute teacher Barbara Brewer defeated retired educator Tommie Johnson with 51.53% of the vote to Johnson’s 48.47%.

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Dallas voters reject the $443 million public safety bond

Dallas voters rejected a $443 million bond proposal for public safety buildings, leaving city officials with difficult decisions about aging police infrastructure, training facilities and emergency operations. This is the first time since 1998 that Dallas voters have denied the city its request to borrow money and redo facilities. “This vote was not a rejection of public safety. It was a demand for a better plan,” the “Bust the Bond” campaign said in a statement early Wednesday.

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The proposal would have funded a new police academy, a tactical police training complex, a consolidated evidence room and crime lab, a new downtown fire station, and a 911 operations facility outside City Hall. Civic and business leaders who supported the bond proposition said the money would help upgrade several deteriorating facilities. But residents who led a campaign to reject the proposal believed the money for the 911 center would be used to abandon the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall. Sean Pease, president of the Dallas Police Association, the city’s largest police union, said the bond package’s defeat sends a “powerful message” to City Hall that voters don’t trust city management with hundreds of millions of additional taxpayer dollars without greater accountability and transparency. Repaying the bond debt would have cost $630 million.

National Stories

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeats Mike Rogers in Michigan to become first Muslim U.S. senator

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who ran on promises to disrupt Washington’s way of doing business, defeated Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in Michigan to become the country’s first Muslim elected to the Senate. El-Sayed, born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, overcame a well-financed campaign of anti-Muslim rhetoric spearheaded by President Donald Trump and his allies. In a race that was by turns nasty and deeply personal, El-Sayed and Rogers each chased voters who would normally support the other. The race exploded Sunday when Rep. Haley Stevens, El-Sayed’s opponent in the Democratic primary, crossed party lines to endorse Rogers just two days before the election. Stevens, who said she was motivated by El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel and a personal conflict with him, might have helped El-Sayed: Her defection outraged Democrats and brought him millions of dollars in donations.

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El-Sayed, a medical doctor and epidemiologist who has headed the Detroit and Wayne County health departments, rankled many in his own party with a pugnacious style and a vow to upend how politics work in D.C. He took a narrowly focused message of economic populism, campaign finance reform and Medicare-for-all to even the deep-red parts of Michigan that helped elect Trump. Rogers, an Army veteran, former FBI agent and seven-term congressman who chaired the House intelligence committee, had pressed a message that El-Sayed’s Muslim identity, views on Israel and progressive policies would endanger their communities and make life more expensive. Michigan’s Senate seat, left open by the retirement of Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, was seen as pivotal to each parties’ path to controlling the Senate. Republicans deployed anti-Muslim rhetoric and stereotypes against El-Sayed, a skilled orator whose progressive agenda energized allies and provoked opponents. His decision to campaign during the primary with Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has made controversial comments about the 9/11 attacks and the militant group Hamas, also drew some backlash. Trump and top Republican allies targeted El-Sayed with Islamophobic attacks, casting him as “dangerous,” questioning his loyalty, and, in the president’s case, calling him a “jihadist.” El-Sayed and Rogers both argued that economic woes were central to the race, but they offered voters sharply different solutions.

Votes are still being counted in Mississippi U.S. Senate race

Votes are still being counted to determine who will represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate. Democrat Scott Colom was only a handful of votes ahead of Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith early Wednesday.

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GOP Rep. Byron Donalds wins Florida governor’s race, becoming the state’s first Black leader

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly to become Florida’s next governor, NBC News projects, extending the GOP’s nearly three-decade run in the Governor’s Mansion. Donalds, who was endorsed early by President Donald Trump, was widely considered the favorite. He will become Florida’s first Black governor when he is sworn in next year. “Even if you didn’t vote for me, you have my word that I will be your governor, too,” Donalds told a crowd of some of Florida’s biggest Republican names gathered at the Hard Rock hotel Tuesday night. The mood throughout the day in South Florida was one of tension. For years, Republicans have dominated the state, but most public polling gave Jolly a shot of winning, which would have ushered in a political sea change in the state.

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Donalds raised a staggering $130 million, giving him a huge financial advantage, and he was running in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 1994. Jolly did work to keep things closer than the last gubernatorial contest, which term-limited GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis won by more than 20 points. But Jolly, a former Republican congressman who became a Democrat, was outmatched and unable to secure much help from national Democratic groups, which have largely abandoned Florida over the past few election cycles. While Donalds welcomed support from Trump, much of his late messaging highlighted his endorsement from DeSantis and a promise to continue his legacy. DeSantis has a better approval rating than Trump in Florida, but he has had an icy relationship with Donalds. He did not endorse in the open GOP primary this year. “We have one goal, and that goal is for the free state of Florida to remain the free state of Florida,” Donalds said at a September event in Tampa where he stood next to DeSantis. “A lot of the issues that we’re talking about up here on this stage, this isn’t just talking points for this event.”

The historic firsts of the 2026 election

Winners up and down the 2026 ballot will make history this year, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, including the first Black woman governor, the first Muslim elected to the US Senate and the first out gay male US senator. As President Donald Trump takes on the latter half of his second term, both parties will welcome a diverse group of newly elected lawmakers at the state and national level. Read more about the candidates who are projected to boast the moniker of “first.” Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to become the first Black governor of Georgia, the first female governor of Georgia and the first female Black governor in US history. Bottoms, who served as Atlanta mayor between 2018 and 2022, was among the women whom President Joe Biden considered as a running mate in the 2020 election. She later joined his administration. Bottoms beat out Trump-endorsed Rick Jackson, making expanding Medicaid coverage, homeowner tax relief and increasing education funding the key pillars of her campaign.

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Rep. Byron Donalds is projected to become the first Black governor of Florida. He campaigned on tax reforms, regulating data centers and supporting Trump’s agenda in a state that has become more solidly red. He was bolstered early in the race with a full-throated Trump endorsement. Donalds defeated David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who became a Democrat last year and tried to appeal to voters as a pragmatic centrist. Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa is projected to become the first Hispanic governor of Texas, unseating Republican Gov. Greg Abbott who served almost 12 years in office. The two candidates clashed over culture issues, including abortion, during the campaign. Hinojosa, a 52-year-old state lawmaker and attorney, will be the first Democrat elected governor since Ann Richards in 1990 and only the third woman to hold the position. Deb Haaland is projected to become the first Native American governor of New Mexico, first female Native American governor in US history. The former US Interior Secretary and congresswoman was favored to win the state’s open governorship. During the Biden administration, Haaland became the first Native American Cabinet secretary.

Adam Hamilton wins Kansas Senate race, becoming first Democrat elected to seat in nearly a century

Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton (D) defeated Sen. Roger Marshall (R) in Kansas. The state sends a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for the first time in nearly a century. Kansas, which Donald Trump won by 16 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, was not supposed to be competitive. But Trump’s sinking approval ratings, Hamilton’s strong public profile and several potent scandals involving Marshall put the traditionally Republican territory into play. In a victory speech on Tuesday night that often sounded more like a church sermon, Hamilton vowed to “lead from the middle” and made a call for a “politics of decency.” “In deeply red Kansas, the heart of America, I want us to model what it looks like when thoughtful people actually work together to solve problems,” he said, “instead of slinging mud at each other.”

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Sullivan, Peltola project confidence in Alaska US Senate race

The two major candidates in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race urged supporters to be patient as results began coming in late Tuesday, delivering rousing speeches and expressing confidence against the backdrop of the fallout from allegations of partisan tricks to recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent. The race headlined by two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola had been among those expected to play a role in determining which party gained control of the Senate. Democrats had won control before polls closed Tuesday night in Alaska. “Lower 48 blue wave. But we’re different,” Sullivan told supporters after initial results were reported. Peltola during her election night party said: “We are getting our government back.”

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The race brought top Republican officials to Alaska to rally for Sullivan, including President Donald Trump, who placed particular focus on a third candidate in the race, retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan. Trump called him “fake” and ordered that the Justice Department sue to block certification if the incumbent loses, pending an investigation into potential voter confusion. The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the ranked vote election, was dismissed by a federal judge, prompting a Justice Department appeal. The race remained too early to call. The candidacy of Dan J. Sullivan, who won 2.5% of the vote in the August open primary and qualified for the general election with a top-four finish, dominated attention in the final days of the race after The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in efforts to recruit him. The report revived long-held suspicions raised by the incumbent and his allies that Dan J. Sullivan was a “sham” candidate intent on confusing voters. Peltola denied involvement in any such efforts, and Dan J. Sullivan, who lives in the small fishing community of Petersburg, has denied any contact with Peltola’s campaign. He has not returned messages in recent days. Peltola appeared to reference the controversy in her speech late Tuesday, saying she was looking out on a room of people who are “smart people and know exactly who they’re voting for.”

Troy Jackson defeats Sen. Susan Collins to win Maine US Senate race

Democrat Troy Jackson won Maine's U.S. Senate seat early Wednesday morning, defeating longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Sen. Collins conceded in the race. Collins was seeking her sixth term, which would have made her the longest-serving Senator in Maine history. Jackson initially did not plan to run for Senate this year and instead threw his hat in for the Democratic nomination for governor, but lost. Jackson a fifth-generation logger and former president of the state Senate, had a little more than 100 days to sell himself to Maine voters after he replaced Graham Platner as the party's nominee in July following sexual assault allegations against Platner.

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Copyright November 04, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved