Talarico, Hinojosa and Pulido: The trio with which the Democrats are beginning to turn Texas purple

After a heated campaign, Texas reshaped its political landscape on Tuesday in the midterms. The solid victories of James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, and Bobby Pulido put the paintbrush in the Democrats’ hands to begin painting over the Republican red that has characterized this southern state — turning it purple — something the party had dreamed of for decades without success. This shift signals that the blend of Republican red and the previously nonexistent Democratic blue is on the horizon.Early voting figures already pointed in that direction for Democrats. In total, 7.7 million Texans voted early, well above the roughly 5.5 million recorded in 2022. And according to tracking by Transparency USA, an organization that provides election data, by October 30 — when that process closed — more than 1.2 million Texans who had participated in only one of the last four Democratic primaries had already voted. On the Republican side, 844,000 voters with the same primary participation history had done so.Turnout among that Democratic group — the less consistent voters who often decide midterm elections — reached 66.9%, up to 10 points higher than its Republican counterpart (56.9%). The advantage held across all levels of engagement, from occasional voters to those who never miss a primary.After Tuesday’s Democratic sweep, the relationship between Texas politicians and their voters cannot remain what it has been for the past 30 years. Time and again, the state’s voters asked candidates to put aside partisan rhetoric and listen to their problems: that they cannot make ends meet or afford health insurance.Carlos Cuéllar, 62, was one of those Democrats who had waited 30 years for this change in leadership. For him, as for voters in other districts, this election “felt different” in Texas: “They’re ordinary people who want to help others; they’re not career politicians and they’re not seeking to profit from the office.”Cuéllar, like several voters EL PAÍS spoke with in Texas during the campaign, said Democratic messaging even changed how voters in a state that looked indelibly red perceived politics: “It doesn’t matter if we’re red or blue, we’re all neighbors, we shouldn’t attack each other or let ourselves be labeled by a color. The state of Texas understood that this is what we need.”These are the key races that are altering the hue of a state that had been a Republican bastion. Texas, which had not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since 1994, joins the list of states reclaimed by Democrats.James Talarico defeats Ken PaxtonJames Talarico’s victory with 55% of the vote confirms what the numbers suggested: Democratic mobilization went beyond the party’s most loyal base and reached voters who usually stay home.Talarico on Tuesday already surpassed the votes that Democratic candidate Kamala Harris accumulated in several counties in 2024, when she ran for president: in Dallas (by more than 200,000 votes), in Tarrant (also by more than 200,000 votes), and in the Republican-leaning Denton (by more than 100,000 votes), to name a few. He did it by putting on his political agenda the issues that have worried voters: access to affordable health insurance, income-based tax reform, raising the minimum wage, and opening a congressional debate on immigration reform that would provide a path to citizenship for thousands of migrants who have lived in the country for decades.For Republicans, Paxton’s defeat was not a surprise: the establishment warned Trump that endorsing such a controversial politician — one mired in corruption scandals and with a combative style of politics — rather than backing the incumbent, John Cornyn, a respected conservative viewed as a safe bet, was a “serious mistake.”Gina Hinojosa takes Texas governorshipWith 53% of the vote and in a surprise result, Democrat Gina Hinojosa unseated three-term Texas governor Greg Abbott.It was not an easy contest for either candidate. Funding for her campaign arrived very late, only weeks earlier, when her party watched in surprise as the gap with the Republican governor began to close. Abbott had never faced a tougher fight to hold the office, though he ultimately failed. It had been 30 years since a Democrat — in fact, another woman, Ann Richards — governed Texas. Hinojosa broke that streak and also became the first Latina woman to lead the state.The last time Abbott defended the office was in 2022, against Democrat Beto O’Rourke. The Republican won with more than 4.4 million votes to the Democrat’s just over 3.5 million. In this race, Hinojosa exceeded O’Rourke’s turnout by more than one million votes.Bobby Pulido wins 15th district seatThe Tejano music singer consolidated his victory by mounting a campaign that reached parts of the district that had not seen a Democrat in a decade, attending quinceañera parties and the communities that watched him grow as a performer. At rallies, voters identified with his proposals and saw him as the people’s candidate — one who, like them, cannot afford health insurance, struggles with the high cost of living, and witnesses migrant families being separated amid an aggressive agenda of arrests and mass deportations.Pulido took the seat from Republican Mónica De La Cruz, who won the post in 2022 and lasted only one term. He did it with 62% of the vote in this majority-Hispanic border district, which voted for Trump in 2024, weary of uncontrolled increases in migrant crossings.And although Pulido’s campaign appearances were driven by the Democratic Party, he made clear that if elected he would not talk about colors “but about the things that matter to people.”Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition