And that now includes the epic repudiation of Donald Trump by the American voters in the midterm elections.
asserted
that → include → elections
Yes, Republicans got pummeled in several conservative redoubts, including the loss of Senate seats in Kansas and South Carolina.
asserted
Republicans → pummel → Kansas
But the biggest, most expensive and most stunning losses happened in the Lone Star State.
asserted
losses → happen → State
After 32 years in the wilderness, Texas Democrats won eight statewide races in a single day, including the thumping of the incumbent governor and Trump ally, Greg Abbott, by Gina Hinojosa.
asserted
Democrats → win → Hinojosa
They also won the lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller and three other offices, and flipped control of the Texas House of Representatives.
asserted
They → win → Representatives
Republicans weren’t the only ones who got pummeled.
asserted
who → pummel → ?
The other big losers include Texas resident Elon Musk and his friends in Big Tech, who are now wondering about the future of their data center projects.
asserted
who → include → projects
Furthermore, by losing Texas, which will now have a Latina governor, it’s easy to see how Texas could rally Latino voters in future presidential elections and become reliably Democratic in 2028 and beyond.
uncertain
Texas → lose → 2028
Before we get to that, it’s essential to understand what happened in the US Senate race.
asserted
what → get → race
James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, one of the most corrupt politicians in Texas history, in a landslide victory.
asserted
Talarico → defeat → victory
Despite Paxton’s awful record, Trump endorsed him anyway, because he said the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, a moderate Republican, “wasn’t particularly loyal to me.”
Trump’s endorsement was the kiss of death.
asserted
endorsement → endorse → death
Exit polls show that 90% of voters named corruption as a crucial or major issue.
asserted
% → show → issue
He got more votes (5.4 million) than any other candidate on the Texas ballot.
asserted
He → get → ballot
He also won his race by a larger margin, in both absolute and percentage terms, than any other Democrat.
asserted
He → win → Democrat
He collected 1.2 million more votes than Paxton and beat him by 12.3%.
asserted
He → collect → %
By comparison, Hinojosa beat Abbott by about 700,000 votes, with a margin of 7.4%.
asserted
Hinojosa → beat → %
The numbers tell the story: Texans turned out in droves to vote for Talarico, or perhaps to vote against Paxton, or maybe both.
asserted
Texans → tell → Paxton
By beating Paxton, Talarico, a soft-spoken 37-year-old bachelor who is pursuing a Master of Divinity at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, rocketed out of obscurity to win the most expensive ($573 million) non-presidential political contest in US history.
asserted
who → beat → history
This week, I spoke to a lobbyist who has worked the halls of the Texas Capitol for decades.
asserted
who → speak → decades
Like nearly every other political observer in Austin, he expected a tight race between Talarico and Paxton.
asserted
he → expect → Talarico
In fact, he expected Paxton to win.
asserted
Paxton → expect → fact
On Wednesday, he told me that Talarico “ran one of the best campaigns I’ve ever seen.
asserted
I → tell → campaigns
Maybe the best since George W. Bush beat Ann Richards in 1994
asserted
Bush → beat → 1994
Indeed, Talarico campaigned hard, stayed consistent in his messaging and ran ads attacking Paxton for corruption that were devastating and often riotously funny.
asserted
that → campaign → corruption
Talarico’s victory is a stinging rebuke to Musk, who contributed $168 million in August and September to political action committees backing Paxton.
asserted
who → contribute → Paxton
In all, Musk spent $445 million on Republicans in the midterms, with at least $225 million going to campaigns in Texas.
asserted
million → spend → Texas
But even Musk’s mountain of money couldn’t stop what US Sen. Ted Cruz — who is now the only remaining statewide Republican in Texas — has dubbed the “blue tsunami.”
asserted
who → stop → Texas
Musk, who moved Tesla’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas in 2021 to get away from Democrats, now must grapple with an entirely new political environment at both the state and federal levels.
asserted
who → move → levels
Earlier this year, The New York Times found that Musk has “quietly built an empire of more than 90 companies and other legal entities in Texas,” including his EV company, SpaceX, his personal security business, X and others.
asserted
Musk → find → company
And the state has lavished incentives on his companies, including a $1.7 billion tax break for his Terafab project.
asserted
state → lavish → project
Top of mind for Musk will be his ability to build data centers in Texas and other states.
asserted
ability → build → Texas
During her campaign, Hinojosa called for “an immediate moratorium on data centers to last until the legislature can meet to put in place real protections” for local citizens.
asserted
legislature → call → citizens
She reiterated her stance on Thursday, saying that she wants “laws to protect Texans” from the projects.
asserted
she → reiterate → projects
She also said she doesn’t “hate data centers.
asserted
she → say → centers
I hate the way they are taking advantage of Texas, and that stops when I’m governor.”
asserted
I → hate → Texas
NY suburbs’ last GOP strongholds flip as blue wave makes history on Long Island, Westchester
-
asserted
wave → flip → Island
Dems prep anti-Trump blitz during first 100 hours when they take back Congress
- Dem House majority swells to Obama-era levels as more GOP incumbents are wiped out
- NY’s top 5 most expensive House races include a whopping $308M in total spending
Musk understands the risk.
asserted
Musk → prep → risk
At 12:12 a.m. on Wednesday, after the midterm results were clear, he posted on X, “data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”
asserted
centers → post → space
Regardless of what happens with Musk, it’s clear that Democrats are riding the biggest wave of political support since the Watergate era.
asserted
Democrats → happen → era
They control the House, the Senate and they are perfectly positioned to win the White House in 2028.
asserted
they → control → 2028
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
