Democrats Hinojosa, Talarico defeat Abbott, Paxton in historic sweep in Texas

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(The Center Square) – Incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have lost their races in Texas in a major upset and a blue wave that is sweeping through many other elections in the state.

Democrat state Rep. Gina Hinojosa defeated the three-term governor by a vote of 57% to 41%, according to unofficial results. 

Democrat state Rep. James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton by a larger margin of nearly 60% to 40% in the race for U.S. Senate, according to unofficial results. 

Hinojosa is the first Hispanic female and third female elected governor in Texas history. 

The last time Texans elected a Democrat and a woman as governor was in 1990, The Center Square reported. Ann Richards was elected as Texas’ 45th governor in 1990 and served one term. 

The first woman elected governor was in 1924, controversial Democrat Miriam (Ma) Ferguson. She served two, two-year terms, being reelected in 1932.  

In previous elections, Abbott, who conceded his race Tuesday night, has won by large margins. This is the first election of his career that Abbott lost.

The last Texas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate was Lloyd Bentsen from Houston in 1988. He served until 1993 when he was appointed U.S. Treasury Secretary. Kay Bailey Hutchison flipped his seat red in a special election in 1993. She held the seat until Ted Cruz was elected to the seat in 2012.

Paxton defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary in March. 

The last Democrat elected to Cornyn’s Senate seat was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1948. He resigned in 1961 to become U.S. vice president. His appointed replacement lost his election to Republican John Tower in 1961. Republican Phil Gramm was next elected to the seat, followed by Cornyn in 2002.

Johnson was also the last Texas senator to lead his party in the U.S. Senate, serving as the U.S. Senate Democratic majority leader from 1955 until Jan. 20, 1961, when he was sworn in as vice president along with President John F. Kennedy.

Multiple races in Texas appear to be flipping blue in judicial, State Board of Education, state legislature and other races, according to unofficial results with 87% of the counties reporting.