A Texas Tribune analysis found that Republicans lost ground in rural Texas on Election Day. Voters in many of the state's most reliable Republican counties either stayed home or voted for a Democrat. Roughly 90% of the counties with a drop in turnout were rural, according to the analysis.
State Rep. James Talarico became the first Democrat to win one of Texas' U.S. Senate seats since 1988. The Tribune's data shows he narrowed the gap with Republican voters in rural counties by about 10 percentage points since 2018. He also beat Beto O'Rourke's 2018 margin in exurban counties by about 15 points.
Drew Landry, a political science professor at South Plains College, said the results should serve as a warning to Republicans. "This tells us that you can't take rural Texas for granted," Landry said. Clayton Tucker, a Democrat, will become the first Democrat to lead the state's agriculture department since 1990.
Turnout rose in urban counties by nearly 8 points since 2022, while rural turnout rose by about 1.4 points, the analysis found. Rural counties made up about 8% of votes cast in 2026, down from about 9% in 2022.