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Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins District 9 Senate runoff
Democrat and union leader Taylor Rehmet won a historic victory Saturday, flipping a long-held Republican Texas Senate seat.
DALLAS - Voters in Tarrant County’s Senate District 9 elected a Democrat in a special runoff election, flipping a seat that had been held by Republicans for decades.
FILE - Voters leave the Park Tavern polling location after casting their ballots. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
A Historic Shift in Tarrant County
What we know:
33-year-old Taylor Rehmet, an Air Force veteran and local union leader, defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss by a double-digit margin, winning 57% of the vote to 43%, according to unofficial results.
Taylor Rehmet greets a supporter at his Senate District 9 runoff watch party at Nickel City in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Eleanor Dearman/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Rehmet ran a campaign focused on cost-of-living pressures, public education and broader economic concerns. Wambsganss, a longtime Republican activist, emphasized conservative priorities.
Short-term win with long-term stakes
The election was held to fill a vacancy left by former Sen. Kelly Hancock. Since it was a special election, Rehmet will serve only the remainder of the current term. The seat will be on the ballot again in November, setting up a likely rematch between the two candidates.
What they're saying:
In a post on X, Rehmet called the victory historic.
Wambsganss acknowledged the loss in a statement, calling the result "a wake-up call" for Republicans.
National momentum
Big picture view:
National Democrats pointed to the outcome as a sign of momentum, noting that President Donald Trump carried the district by about 17 percentage points a little more than a year ago. Trump endorsed Wambsganss and urged voters to support her in a post on Truth Social the day before the election, calling her a "MAGA warrior."
When asked about the result earlier Friday, Trump said he was unaware of the race.
"I don’t know. I didn’t hear about it," Trump told reporters. "That’s a local Texas race. Things like that happen."
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX News and the Associated Press. Additional information is provided from politicians' social media pages.