Democrat flips US Senate seat in Texas

Democrat James Talarico flipped a US Senate seat in Texas on Tuesday, defeating Republican Ken Paxton to pull off the first statewide victory in more than 30 years and sending a jolt through a longtime GOP stronghold that President Donald Trump carried by double digits just two years ago.

The 37-year-old state legislator, former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian will become Texas' first Democratic senator since 1993, laying bare how voter frustration midway through Trump's second term imperiled Republicans deep inside typically safe turf. The victory is a rejection of Trump's pick for the seat and threatens Republicans' control of the Senate, where Democrats needed to gain four seats to retake the majority.

Talarico will become the Senate's youngest member and replace longtime Sen. John Cornyn, 74, who lost a bruising GOP primary to the scandal-plagued Paxton, whose nomination bolstered Talarico's appeal to Republican and independent voters.