Democrat Scores Upset in Deep Red Texas Senate District; GOP Warns of ‘Wakeup Call’

Taylor Rehmet’s win is seen by Democrats as proof of organizing gains, while Republican leaders cite a low-turnout.

Texas state Sen.-elect Taylor Rehmet, a Democrat, speaks in Fort Worth after winning a special election, on Jan. 31, 2026. KXAS screenshot via AP

Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a Texas state Senate race in a district that then-former President Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024, flipping a longtime Republican seat in a low-turnout special election that both parties say carries lessons for the fall.

The win came on the same night that Democrat Christian Menefee prevailed in a special election for a Texas U.S. House seat, narrowing the GOP’s already slim majority in Congress’s lower chamber.