Texas Democrat’s win a ‘wake-up call’ for Republicans ahead of 2026 US midterm elections

Summary

• Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a Texas state senate seat, flipping it from Republican control, after defeating Republican Leigh Wambsganss by over 14 points.
• The victory is seen as a "wake-up call" for Republicans and boosts Democratic hopes for regaining power in the 2026 midterm elections.
• Democrats are focusing on "kitchen-table issues" to counter "chaos" and gain momentum, despite Trump's distancing himself from the loss.

WASHINGTON - A Democratic candidate won a special election for the Texas state senate by a double-digit margin, taking control from Republicans for the first time in decades in a result the losing candidate on Feb 1 called "a wake-up call" for the US midterm elections.

The victory for a seat vacated by a four-term Republican followed a string of wins in recent months for the Democratic Party in local and state elections across the country, offering hope for national Democrats looking to claw back power in midterm elections later in 2026. 

Mr Taylor Rehmet, a union machinist and US Air Force veteran, won on Jan 31 in the conservative area near Dallas by more than 14 percentage points over Republican activist Leigh Wambsganss, whom President Donald Trump had urged voters to rally behind.

Democrats cited it as evidence of rising momentum heading into the midterm elections in November, when control of Congress is at stake. “Democrats are building on our historic overperformance, and we’re not slowing down,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin wrote in a social media post.

In a Feb 1 statement, Ms Wambsganss said she congratulated Mr Rehmet on his victory and called the Democratic win a "wake-up call" for local and national Republicans. 

"The Democrats were energised," Ms Wambsganss said. "Too many Republicans stayed home."

Mr Trump on Jan 31 touted Ms Wambsganss as a "true MAGA Warrior" and tried to rally voters to the polls on her behalf. 

But on Feb 1 he distanced himself from the loss, saying he was not involved as it was a “local Texas race.”

“I’m not on the ballot, so you don’t know whether or not it’s transferable,” Mr Trump said.

The district is more Republican than overall Tarrant County, which Mr Trump won by 5 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election but Mr Joe Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 2,000 votes.

Ms Wambsganss said she expects to defeat Mr Rehmet when they face off again in the November election for the seat's full four-year term.

Jan 31's outcome wasn't entirely unexpected. In the November election that led to the runoff, Mr Rehmet had the top result with 48 per cent, while Ms Wambsganss and Mr John Huffman split the Republican vote.

Texas follows recent Democratic wins

Mr Rehmet's election follows a series of victories for the party nationwide since Mr Trump started his second term in 2025.

In November, Democrats won governors' races in Democratic-friendly New Jersey and flipped back the gubernatorial control in Virginia.

In December, Democrats won special elections in more conservative Kentucky and Iowa, but Republicans held off a Democratic upset in a special election victory for a Tennessee congressional seat after US House Speaker Mike Johnson, concerned about his slim Republican majority, rallied national Republicans.

The November 2026 midterm election includes races for Congress and is often seen as a referendum on the White House, as well as some gubernatorial elections across the country.

Democrats, currently the minority party in both chambers of Congress, hope to flip Republicans' majorities. 

With a handful of open seats, Republicans currently hold a slim 218-213 edge in the US House, but that will narrow further after the swearing-in of Representative-elect Christian Menefee, a Texas Democrat who also won on Jan 31 to fill a vacancy in a longtime Democratic district whose previous representative died in March.

The 53-47 Republican-controlled US Senate will pose a bigger challenge for Democrats, but party leaders are encouraged by their candidates who have won before in competitive states like North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and even Alaska.

Mr Trump has encouraged primary challengers to some incumbent Republican senators, such as Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, and suggested on Feb 1 he will make an endorsement in the three-way Republican contest in Texas that includes another incumbent, Senator John Cornyn, state Attorney-General Ken Paxton and Representative Wesley Hunt.

“I like all of them,” Mr Trump said.

Democratic strategists urged their party to continue emphasising affordability and pocketbook issues.

"This win is another rejection of the chaos that Trump is creating, and people don't want chaos in their communities," Ms Meghan Hays, a former Biden campaign and White House official, said in a Feb 1 interview with Reuters.

"Ahead of November, Democrats need to focus on kitchen-table issues and they need to have real solutions. That's what you're seeing in these local races." REUTERS