Fox News broadcast results from around the country inside a ballroom at Dallas’s Westin hotel, where Ken Paxton’s election-night party was taking place.
For a time, Paxton’s team held out hope that polls had overstated the strength of his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, while underestimating Republican turnout.
As the evening progressed, however, the results pointed in another direction and the reality of the race began to sink in.
At about 10 p.m., after television networks began projecting Talarico as the winner, the television was suddenly turned off—apparently to shield the roughly 150 supporters in attendance from the bad news.
Unlike President Trump, who Our News Outlet reported was sulking in the private residence of the White House as returns came in, Paxton delivered an unusually gracious concession speech soon after it became clear he had lost a Texas US Senate seat Republicans had held for nearly 40 years.
Paxton said he would “pray” for Talarico, then remained at the event until 11 p.m., shaking hands with supporters and posing for photographs.
His composure, however, appears to have been bolstered by the belief that the defeat was not primarily his fault.
A senior aide told Our News Outlet on Tuesday night that Paxton was privately blaming Trump for the disastrous result.
Republican US Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton delivers his concession speech at his election-night watch party in Dallas, Texas, after losing to Democrat James Talarico
President Donald Trump walks with Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, right, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, left, at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport during a visit to an Apple manufacturing plant on Wednesday, November 20, 2019
“He hurt us. We couldn’t get away from him,” the campaign insider said of the president.
The staffer was referring to more than Trump’s falling popularity.
The aide described one instance in which the campaign believed the commander in chief had directly disrupted its plans.
A mothers’ group had hoped to organize an event for Paxton before Election Day, an appearance the campaign believed could help attract female voters unsettled by his personal scandals.
But the White House called just days before the planned event to announce that Trump would be returning to Texas—one of five visits to the state before the midterms. The mothers’ event was canceled.
Trump had already faced criticism for endorsing Paxton over John Cornyn, the sitting senator viewed as a more traditional conservative.
Paxton, a staunch Trump ally during his tenure as Texas attorney general, was embroiled in a series of professional and personal controversies, including a high-profile affair with a married Christian influencer that was revealed by Our News Outlet.
Trump acknowledged that he chose Paxton because he believed Cornyn had not shown sufficient loyalty.
The aide said the campaign took some comfort from the belief that any Republican candidate would have lost Tuesday night amid voter anger directed at Republicans in Washington.
“That’s the silver lining. I can honestly say Cornyn would have been in the same boat,” the aide said.
US Senator-elect James Talarico, D-Texas, greets supporters at a Whataburger restaurant after an election-night watch party during the midterm elections on November 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas
The aide cited what they described as a statewide Republican wipeout, including Governor Greg Abbott, whose seemingly unshakable hold on power appeared to end overnight.
“If Abbott went down, do you think Cornyn was going to do better than Abbott?” Paxton’s staffer said.
The aide also acknowledged Talarico’s strengths.
“A geriatric John Cornyn going up against a charismatic and inspiring Talarico?” the aide asked sarcastically.
Talarico won Texas with 55.1 percent of the vote, or 5,445,121 ballots, compared with Paxton’s 43 percent, or 4,249,752 votes, according to the Associated Press.
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Still, the campaign’s explanation leaves open questions about whether Paxton’s record contributed to the scale of his defeat.
The Texas House impeached Paxton in 2023 over allegations including bribery, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, abuse of public trust and other misconduct. He was acquitted, remained attorney general and denied wrongdoing.
Paxton has also been caught cheating on his wife twice.
During his impeachment trial, lawmakers heard allegations that he had entered into a quid pro quo arrangement with a donor, offering assistance in finding a job for his former mistress, Laura Olson.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate for re-election, reacts while delivering a concession speech at an election-night rally during the US midterm elections in Austin, Texas, on November 3
Our News Outlet later reported details of his second and current affair, prompting his wife, Angela Paxton, to file for divorce last year on “Biblical grounds.”
Our News Outlet first reported in September that Paxton was involved with Tracy Duhon.
The report detailed how the pair moved into a $2 million home and took luxury trips with Duhon to Iceland and London during the summer, at the height of his campaign.
Separately, a long-running felony securities-fraud case was dismissed in 2024 as part of a deal requiring Paxton to perform community service, complete legal-ethics courses and pay restitution to investors. He denied wrongdoing.
Even so, it remains unclear whether any candidate could have stopped the Democratic wave that swept across Texas.
Democrats also captured all five South Texas congressional seats that had been drawn to give Republicans an advantage.
Abbott had dominated state politics for 12 years and entered the election with more than $105 million in his campaign war chest to support his re-election effort.
“He had that stranglehold over every statewide elected office,” Texas Democratic political strategist Christian Archer told Our News Outlet.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller leaves after meeting with staff for President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 30, 2016
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who lost a Republican primary to an Abbott-backed candidate, said Abbott—not Trump—was responsible for the Texas Republican Party’s decline.
“He got too big for his britches. Any cowboy can figure out what happened,” Miller told Our News Outlet after the results had settled.
Miller said he fell out of favor with Abbott after warning the governor about concerns raised by ranchers and rural voters.
Those concerns included data centers, Flock cameras, rising prices for fuel, seed and feed, and fertilizer.
Although artificial-intelligence data centers had become a major concern among those voters, Abbott accepted $9 million in donations from contributors with ties to data centers, according to the Texas Tribune.
“We weren’t listening to the people. It was death by a thousand cuts. You add them all up and we got our a**es kicked,” Miller said.
Miller described the state GOP as being in disarray, with party figures “pointing fingers at each other.”
According to Paxton’s aide, Abbott had ambitions of running for president, but Miller predicted the governor would not seek office again.
“Abbott’s toast. He can’t run for dog catcher. He destroyed our party,” Miller said.
As for Paxton’s next move, his aide said he had given little thought to the future because he never anticipated such a “brutal” defeat.
“MAGA is dead—dead,” Archer declared. “That now belongs in the history books.”
