Democrat James Talarico defeats Ken Paxton to win Texas's first Democratic Senate seat in 30+ years; Elon Musk spent $47M backing Paxton and attacked Talarico (Stephanie Findlay/Financial Times)

James Talarico has become the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate race since 1994. The 37-year-old former middle school teacher from San Antonio narrowly defeated Republican Attorney-General Ken Paxton in the November election. Talarico's campaign message focused on the wealth divide in the United States, rather than the traditional left versus right political battle.

He accused Elon Musk, a major backer of Paxton, of attempting to buy a Senate seat and framed it as a David versus Goliath story. Talarico's victory came amid Republican infighting, with four-term Senator John Cornyn and former President Donald Trump backing Paxton in the runoff. Despite Paxton's personal scandals and estrangement from his wife, he managed to secure enough Republican votes to win the nomination.

Talarico's campaign also faced attacks from Trump, who called him "Tala-freako" and claimed he was vegan.