Major upset: Democrat beats Trump-endorsed candidate in landslide in deep-red state
Democratic Texas Senate candidate Taylor Rehmet defeated Trump-endorsed Republican Leigh Wambsganss in a Saturday special election for a seat the president won by double digits three times, multiple outlets project.
Rehmet, a union leader and Air Force veteran, won 57.2% of the vote compared to Wambsganss’s 42.8%, with 95% of the vote in, according to The Associated Press (AP). Texas Senate District 9 — which is entirely based in Tarrant County and includes parts of Fort Worth and Arlington — was last represented by former Republican State Sen. Kelly Hancock who resigned in June 2025 to work for the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
Under its current boundaries, District 9 voted for Trump by 17 percentage points in 2024, 13 points in 2020, and 23 points in 2016, according to data from Dave’s Redistricting App (DRA).
We’re in the New York Times!
Voters are fed up with extremist agendas that prioritize culture wars over the doing whats best for Texans.
On Saturday, we will flip this seat and get to work fighting for the issues that actually matter to YOU! pic.twitter.com/r9r9qRhIzl
— Taylor Rehmet (@TaylorRehmetTX) January 29, 2026
Rehmet’s campaign website describes him as a “a union president, veteran, and working-class Texan running for State Senate to fight for public schools, affordable housing, and real results for everyday people.”
Meanwhile, Wambsganss received a last-minute endorsement from Trump.
“The Radical Left Democrats are spending a fortune to beat a true MAGA Warrior, Leigh Wambsganss,” the president wrote in a late Friday post to Truth Social. “You can win this Election for Leigh, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
The defeated Republican candidate is a prominent conservative activist and the chief communications officer of Patriot Mobile, a phone company branding itself as “America’s only Christian, conservative wireless provider.”
Firebrand Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett quickly congratulated Rehmet, calling her a “friend” in an early Sunday morning X post.
Congratulations to my friend and our newest State Senator from Tarrant County, Taylor Rehmet! I met Taylor almost two years ago through Labor.
Don’t tell us what can’t be done in Texas. When we show up #TexasTough, we change the game. This is a seat no Democrat has held since… pic.twitter.com/Y69Ug460us
— Jasmine Crockett (@JasmineForUS) February 1, 2026
Rehmet’s victory is the latest in a string of Democratic upsets in state legislative seats that typically favor Republicans during Trump’s second term. In 2025 alone, Democratic Pennsylvania State Sen. James Malone, Democratic Iowa State Sens. Mike Zimmer and Catelin Drey, and Democratic Georgia State Rep. Eric Gisler all won special election victories in seats Trump carried by double digits the previous year.
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