Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, stunning GOP

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. MaddowBlog-As Dems flip a red district in Texas, Trump tries to distance himself from his own failure

The president insisted that he wasn’t “involved” in a special election in the Fort Worth area. Reality suggests otherwise.

Step 1: Trump begs voters in the Fort Worth area to back a GOP candidate in a special election in a red district.

Step 2: The Dem wins by double digits.

Step 3: Trump pretends Step 1 didn’t happen. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-02T13:04:02.353Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/as-dems-flip-a-red-district-in-texas-trump-tries-to-distance-himself-from-his-own-failure

There was far greater interest, however, in a state Senate special election in the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas. A New York Times report noted last week that Republican officials worried “that even a narrow G.O.P. victory … could be a bad sign for their midterm prospects.”

The results were far from a narrow GOP victory. MS NOW reported:

Democrats flipped a seat in the Texas Senate on Saturday when Democrat Taylor Rehmet won 57% of the vote in a special election for state Senate District 9.

Rehmet, a union leader and an Air Force veteran, won the seat for the Fort Worth-area district against Republican candidate Leigh Wambsganss.

On paper, this outcome seemed wholly implausible. Donald Trump won this district by 17 points in the 2024 elections; Wambsganss heavily outspent Rehmet; the district hasn’t been competitive in three decades; and state GOP leaders, such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, went all out to help carry Wambsganss across the finish line in one of the nation’s largest Republican counties.

The Democratic candidate won by double digits anyway......

The outcome was obviously a difficult one for Wambsganss, the chief communications officer for Patriot Mobile, which describes itself as “America’s ONLY Christian conservative wireless provider.” But the results were also especially brutal for Donald Trump — though he was eager to pretend otherwise.

Reporter: A Democrat won a special election in Texas in an area that you won by 17 points

Trump: I’m not involved in that. That’s a local race. I don’t know anything about it. I had nothing to do with it.

— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2026-02-01T17:45:31.133Z

......Literally one day earlier, the president published the latest in a series of messages to his social media platform that read, “Today is the day! To all Voters in Texas’ 9th State Senate District: GET OUT AND VOTE for a phenomenal Candidate, Leigh Wambsganss. She is a highly successful Entrepreneur, and an incredible supporter of our Movement to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. You can win this Election for Leigh, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement. POLLS CLOSE AT 7 P.M. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR LEIGH WAMBSGANSS! … Leigh will NEVER let Texas, or the USA, down!”

The day before that, he also reminded local voters that he considered Wambsganss “a GREAT Candidate” who enjoyed his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”

On Saturday night, Wambsganss lost by 14 points. On midday Sunday, Trump said of the race, “Somebody ran where?” adding, “I’m not involved with that.”

He was most definitely involved with that.