A Texas Democrat has pulled off a major upset win, claiming victory in a state senate special election for an area that heavily supported Donald Trump in 2024. The victory is a stunning defeat for the GOP, an encouragement for Democrats seeking to put Texas into play in 2026, and an indication that a “blue wave” may continue into this year’s midterm elections.
Democratic union leader pulls off 30-point voter swing in district won by Trump in 2024
Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a union leader, military veteran and first-time candidate, won a stunning victory in Texas as he secured Saturday’s special election to represent the Fort Worth area in the state senate. Rehmet defeated another first-time candidate, conservative activist Leigh Wambsganss, who previously led a successful movement to elect conservative candidates to North Texas school boards.
In November, Rehmet earned 47% of the vote, triggering a runoff against Wambsganss. He defeated her Saturday with 57% to 43% in their head-to-head race—an impressive swing in an area that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. Rehmet played down party labels, saying voters were “really tired of the partisanship” and that he focused on issues such as affordability.
Nevertheless, the runoff between Rehmet and Wambsganss drew massive amounts of funding and national attention. Democratic and Republican PACs each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting their respective candidates in the lead-up to Saturday’s runoff. After his near-win in November’s first round, Rehmet’s campaign received backing from the Democratic National Committee, while the Republican National Committee supported Wambsganss. She also received endorsements from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and former President Trump, who had urged voters to support Wambsganss as “a true MAGA Warrior.”
Democrats hope for ‘blue wave’ in Texas and across the U.S.
The result of Saturday’s race comes as a warning for Republicans and a boost for Democrats who hope to make Texas competitive in upcoming elections. Democrats plan to run candidates for every Texas State House seat and a majority of State Senate seats this year. Rehmet will be one of those candidates; he and Wambsganss will face each other again in November for the next full term of the seat Rehmet just won.
Additionally, Democrats will run in all state-level and federal-level elections in Texas this year, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s bid to unseat longtime U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Crockett congratulated Rehmet on his victory, declaring that his win “isn’t the finish line — it’s only the beginning.”
Crockett and other Democrats across Texas and the country are hoping Rehmet’s victory is part of a larger “blue wave” that began last year, when Democrats outperformed Republicans in key races, including the Governor of Virginia and the Mayor of New York City. Should Democrats continue this momentum, they could take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority, and potentially the U.S. Senate.
Complicating the outlook is the recent wave of partisan, Republican-led redistricting in Texas. Although some Democratic states, such as California, responded with their own partisan redistricting, the net effect of congressional map changes may still favor Republicans.
For now, however, Democrats appear to be exceeding expectations and outperforming Republicans in elections across the country. With a Democrat easily winning an area of Texas that heavily supported Trump just over a year ago, the race may signal a significant opening for Democrats heading into the 2026 midterm elections.