Democrats shock Texas as Talarico and Hinojosa win in Republican stronghold

This was a seismic night in Texas politics. The crowd went absolutely wild as James Tallarico made his acceptance speech outside. The cars were honking, there were fireworks as people here started to realize that the words Senator-elect Tallarico is now a thing. Now, as he made his acceptance speech, he really leant into his Christian faith. He talked about how this had been a David versus Goliath battle. He talked about How Elon Musk and the billionaires had put so much money into trying to divide Texas, those algorithms, the politics of hate, and instead, he wanted to be a senator for all Texans. He will be the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate since 1988. That is a year longer than he has been on this planet. In other news, the other big victory, of course, was in the governor's race. Gina Neosha, who is a Latina from the border, she was up against Greg Abbott. Greg Abbott has been in power here for 12 years. He was seeking an unprecedented fourth term. She said, as she accepted, everything is bigger in Texas. Even the shock of this win. Greg Abbott, of course, is a big ally of President Trump. Or he was, because President Trump went very, very quickly on Truth Social and called him a rhino. That stands for Republican in name only. He said Greg Abbott had gone soft, and it was because of that he lost the election. Texas has evaded the Democrats for years. They've got close, but it has always slipped away. And now, even though we're still only talking about the midterms, many here are already looking forward. To 2028. Phil Lovell, Al Jazeera, Austin, Texas.