Trump's gamble on Ken Paxton backfires as Democrat pulls off historic Texas Senate upset

By Fox News · Fox News

Democrats just made history in Texas. President Donald Trump’s gamble on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a strong ally of the president’s, backfired on him after Texas state Rep. James Talarico pulled off an upset to score Democrats their first Senate seat from the Lone Star State in nearly four decades. The Fox News Decision Desk called the Texas Senate race in Talarico's favor shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday night. It comes after Trump opted to back Paxton over longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, earlier this year, who Republicans in Washington, D.C., believed would be a better candidate during a midterm cycle in which political headwinds, spurred by economic stress and war, pushed back against the party in power. TRUMP BACKS PAXTON IN TEXAS REPUBLICAN SENATE SHOWDOWN WITH CORNYN Trump made near-weekly visits and his deep-pocketed war chest, MAGA Inc., along with national Republicans, dumped hundreds of millions of dollars to support Paxton’s struggling campaign. But it was not enough to overcome the insurgent Talarico, who styled himself a moderate dedicated to representing Texans and not Democratic interests, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., in Washington. It was a bitter campaign from start to finish, with Talarico painting Paxton as unfit to serve following several allegations of corruption, including his impeachment for alleged corruption by the Texas House — he was later acquitted by the Texas Senate. REPUBLICAN CAVALRY ARRIVES FOR KEN PAXTON AS BIG-BUCKS TEXAS OFFENSIVE OPENS CASH FLOODGATES "This Senate seat has been held by some of the finest Texans," Talarico said. "Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat. Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Sam Houston's Senate seat." Paxton, Trump and national Republicans painted him as a "communist," a vegan in BBQ-loving Texas, and zeroed in on his support for the transgender community while in the Texas Legislature, mo…