Texas–Ken Paxton–James Talarico

One Final Pre Election Thought On Two US Senate Elections

As voters nationally are voting, with election results starting to be reported in a few hours, this is a final Pre Election Thought.

With the likely result in Texas being the election of Democratic nominee James Talarico over Republican nominee Ken Paxton in the US Senate race, if that happens, it will be clear that the Republicans ran the wrong candidate, Paxton, who was backed by Donald Trump in the primary,over sitting Senator John Cornyn. It seems highly likely that Cornyn could have retained his seat, and James Talarico would have lost the election.

With the likely result in South Carolina being the election of Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews over Republican nominee Senator Darline Graham in the US Senate race, if that happens, it will be clear that the Republicans and Donald Trump supported the wrong candidate in the primary. If Congressman Ralph Norman had been the nominee, it is highly likely that Norman would have won the Senate seat, and Dr. Annie Andrews would have lost the election.

At this moment, it looks highly likely both James Talarico in Texas, and Dr. Annie Andrews in South Carolina, will enter the Senate for the 120th Congress (2027-2029).

Both states have, for many decades have been strongly Republican, but that now seems likely to end, partially due to the poor choice of who the Republican nominees should have been.

Texas Has The Most Obnoxious Republican Politicians In The Nation!

For the past three decades, since the mid 1990s, the state of Texas has, without any sense of virtue, elected the most obnoxious Republican politicians imaginable to high public offices.

They elected Ken Paxton to multiple terms as state Attorney General, and he has been engaged in horrendous corruption and scandals, on a constant basis, including being impeached by the Texas House, although saved from conviction by the Texas Senate.

His wife is in the process of divorce, as Paxton has cheated on her a multitude of times over the years, and she has had enough.

Paxton is also obnoxious as a person, totally uncaring and lacking any ethics, morals, or scruples.

Now, he is being contested for the US Senate seat by Democratic State Representative James Talarico, who is perceived by tens of millions nationally, and also in Texas, as a specially gifted, talented, kind individual, who represents change, ethics, morals, and decency.

Meanwhile, while Donald Trump endorsed Paxton over sitting Republican Senator John Cornyn in the primary, and has campaigned multiple times in the past few weeks for Cornyn, he has also mocked Paxton as ugly, and said he is not the best public figure around.

In addition to Paxton, Texas three term Governor, Greg Abbott, is a horrendous, corrupt governor, who faces a tough race against Gina Hinojosa, a state representative since 2017, who comes across as genuine, kind hearted, and principled, and the polls indicate a close race, with a good possiblity of Abbott losing office.

And then, there is Senator Ted Cruz, in his third term in the US Senate, who the late Senator Lindsey Graham called the most hated Senator by fellow Senators of both parties, who if Cruz were to pass on, no one in the Senate would mourn his loss.

Clearly, that may be more “tongue in cheek”, but it is well known that Cruz is not good at making friends, and has a highly abrasive personality toward fellow Senators on either side of the aisle.

But Donald Trump, in his campaigning in Texas for Paxton and Abbott, has said he would name Cruz to any vacancy on the Supreme Court, and mentioned that other Senators did not like Cruz, but that all Republicans would unanimously vote for him, and that Democrats would not fight his nomination, as they would wish to remove him from the Senate.

That is clearly a lie on the part of Trump, as even if most Democrats do not personally like Cruz, they would not support his elevation to the Supreme Court, because his vote would likely be similar to Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, the two most right wing members of the Court, who are much despised by the majority of Americans who follow Court decisions.

So the top Texas politicians are truly memorable in highly negative terms, unmatched in any other state.

15 “Red” States In Play In Senate Races In Midterm Elections of 2026

What seems likely to be a “Blue Wave” in the upcoming Senate races in the Midterm Elections of 2026, has created a situation where states that are normally seen as “Red”, are witnessing really tough races where Democrats have a good to moderate chance of “flipping”.

This includes the two states that have special elections to complete the two years remaining in the term—Florida with Ashley Moody, who replaced Marco Rubio; and Ohio with Jon Husted, who replaced JD Vance. Their Democratic opponents have a reasonable chance to defeat them, Angie Nixon in Florida, and Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

The following states, generally “Red”, have a potential chance to elect Democrats in November.

Alaska–Republican Senator Dan Sullivan vs former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola.

Idaho–Republican Senator Jim Risch vs. Independent Todd Achilles.

Iowa–Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson vs Democratic State Representative Josh Turek.

Kansas–Republican Senator Roger Marshall vs Democratic Pastor Adam Hamilton.

Kentucky–Republican Congressman Andy Barr vs Democratic former State Representative Charles Booker.

Maine–Republican Senator Susan Collins vs Democratic former State Legislator Troy Jackson.

Mississippi–Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith vs Democratic local District Attorney Scott Colum.

Montana–Republican US Attorney Kurt Alme vs. Democratic Former Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Alani Bankhead vs Independent former President of University of Montana Seth Bodnar.

Nebraska–Republican Senator Pete Ricketts vs Independent Former Labor Union Leader Dan Osborn.

North Carolina–former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley vs Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.

South Carolina–Republican Senator Darline Graham vs Democratic pediatrician Annie Andrews.

South Dakota–Republican Senator Mike Rounds vs Independent Air Force and Navy veteran Brian Bengs.

Texas–Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton vs Democratic State Representative James Talarico.

At this point, six weeks to Election Day, the best bets are:

Sherrod Brown–Ohio
Alaska–Mary Peltola
Iowa–Josh Turek
Kansas–Adam Hamilton
Maine–Troy Jackson
Nebraska–Dan Osborn
North Carolina–Roy Cooper
Texas–James Talarico

If at least four of these eight candidates win in their states, it would be a Democratic majority, assuming New Hampshire stays Democratic with Chris Pappas; Michigan stays Democratic with Abdul El-Sayed; Georgia stays Democratic with Jon Ossoff; and Minnesota stays Democratic with Peggy Flanagan.

Notable is that Independents, who would be likely to join the Democratic caucus in the Senate include:

Idaho–Todd Achilles
Montana–Seth Bodnar
Nebraska–Dan Osborn
South Dakota–Brian Bengs