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Wednesday’s biggest developments
- Texas Democrats underperformed their high expectations
- President Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in Texas
- John Cornyn retained his U.S. Senate seat
Texas Republicans thwarted Democrats' ambitions for Texas House, other key races
[5 a.m.] Texas Democrats underperformed the high expectations they had set for themselves on Election Day, most notably in a hotly contested battle for dominance in the Texas House. That appeared to end with a narrow victory for Republicans, leaving intact the party’s advantage in the chamber.
And a number of potential pickups for Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives seemed increasingly unlikely early Wednesday.
Donald Trump carried Texas on Tuesday, though his reelection was still uncertain Wednesday morning. Republican John Cornyn handily won reelection to his seat in the U.S. Senate, soaring past combat veteran MJ Hegar to notch a victory. Republicans held big leads in other statewide races for Railroad Commission, Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. — Emma Platoff
President Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in Texas
[5 a.m.] President Donald Trump carried Texas on Tuesday, winning its 38 electoral votes, as national results continued to show him and former Vice President Joe Biden in a neck-and-neck race. Trump’s Texas margin over Biden — which Decision Desk HQ showed as 52.2% to 46.4% early Wednesday — marks the second-closest statewide race for the White House in the last quarter century. In 1996, GOP nominee Bob Dole beat Bill Clinton by 5 points. Trump prevailed over Hillary Clinton in Texas by 9 points in 2016. — Alex Samuels
John Cornyn fended off MJ Hegar to retain U.S. Senate seat
[5 a.m.] U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, defeated Democratic challenger MJ Hegar on Tuesday. Hegar called Cornyn and conceded within minutes of the race being called, according to both campaigns. Cornyn was competing for his fourth term against Hegar, the former Air Force helicopter pilot who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House two years ago in suburban Austin. — Patrick Svitek