‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ Author Responds To Texas Going Blue In Midterms: “It Was All In The Binder”

Texas made history Tuesday night when James Talarico became the state’s first Democratic Senator since 1988, defeating Republican Ken Paxton. The flip may have come as a shock for many, but Red, White & Royal Blue fans saw it as a prophecy coming to life. In author Casey McQuiston‘s popular 2019 novel and Prime Video’s 2023 film adaptation, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) is the son of America’s first female president, Democrat Ellen Claremont, played in the film by Uma Thurman, who is facing a tough reelection. In a 14-page memo, aka the Texas Binder, Alex laid out an ambitious political strategy to turn his home state of Texas blue. It looked like a long shot, but he got a chance to implement it. In the end, the vote came down to Texas, which defied projections by going blue, securing Ellen a second term. Red, White & Royal Blue fans flooded social media after Talarico was announced as the winner, touting “the Alex Claremont-Diaz impact” on his victory. “It was all in the binder,” McQuiston wrote in response to Vulture’s IG post featuring a photo of Zakhar Perez as Alex with the caption “History, huh? #iykyk.” During Contenders TV during the last election year, 2024, Deadline asked Zakhar Perez and Red, White & Royal Blue producer Sarah Schechter which they think we’ll see first in our lifetime: an openly gay British prince or Texas going blue again? (Red, White & Royal Blue follows the romance between Alex and a British Prince, played by Nicholas Galitzine, who comes out as gay.) “That is an excellent, excellent question. I really hope for both, I really just hope for both,” Schechter said back in April 2024 when Joe Biden was still the Democratic Presidential candidate. Added Zakhar Perez, “I think Joe needs to read Alex’s memo.” (You can watch the exchange towards the end of the video below.) Biden and his replacement Kamala Harris may not have read the memo, but Talarico clearly did.