Texas is far and away the biggest upset of the 2026 midterms. The resounding defeat of MAGA here also offers the Republican Party a chance for a hard reboot — if the GOP is brave enough to take it. Texas is the largest red state in the nation. It hasn’t had national Democratic representation in three decades; it voted for President Donald Trump three times; and Trump held his midterm convention here just two months ago. The losing Republican Senate candidate, Ken Paxton, was hand-selected by Trump over incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the primary. Democrat James Talarico beat him handily, 55% to 43%. It’s hard to overstate this. For all Democrats’ long talk of turning Texas purple or blue, the last Democrat to come close was Beto O’Rourke in 2018, when he lost to Senator Ted Cruz. It’s the kind of state that, when driving from North Texas to Round Top like I did last week, you’ll see a billboard showing an evolutionary progression from a caveman to Jesus Christ to Donald Trump. But there were too many Talarico yard signs to ignore; and not just in the city, but out in the c