> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thebarbedwire.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The Glorious Blue Tsunami Has Hit Texas
- URL: https://www.thebarbedwire.com/the-glorious-blue-tsunami-has-hit-texas/
- Published: 2026-11-05T14:08:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T14:07:59.000Z
- Description: Democrats swept the statewide races Tuesday. Now they get to clean up after 30 years of Republicans.
- Author: Brian Gaar
- Tags: Perspectives, 2026 Election, Austin

Was Tuesday night a dream? Did Texas really turn blue? 

Even as I’m typing this on a few hours of sleep, I still can’t believe it. My neck should be sore from the whiplash from [two years ago.](https://www.thebarbedwire.com/enjoy-these-liberal-tears/) 

As a state, we have been gaslit and atomized and psychically bled dry for so long by the Republicans, I thought that a blue Texas was a pleasant fiction that would never actually happen. 

But, it did. After a truly nasty campaign, full of the usual [racism](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/bo-french-railroad-commissioner-election/?ref=thebarbedwire.com) and [transphobia](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/article/ads-hit-james-talarico-on-transgender-surgeries-22470076.php?ref=thebarbedwire.com) that we’ve come to expect from the Texas GOP, it did happen. 

Somehow, the Democrats, who could never win anything, have won damn near everything. 

Texas Republicans thought they could run our state like their own personal fiefdom, and for so long they have. 

But they got complacent. They fielded an incredibly weak lineup of candidates and their own machine, despite [all their redistricting](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/11/03/texas-congress-us-house-redistricting-elections-2026/?ref=thebarbedwire.com), couldn’t save them. Like dinosaurs, they didn’t appreciate the giant meteor headed their way. 

I can’t explain, as someone who has lived in Texas since the 80s, how amazing it felt. I was in high school the last time we elected a Democrat statewide.

Austin felt delirious with joy Tuesday night. Driving by the Long Center, where Senator-elect James Talarico was giving his victory speech, you could hear the honks of joy. 

You could see happy young people, waving signs and cheering at passing motorists, who cheered right back. 

Did we really win? Is this real? 

Of course, the hard part has just begun for our new Democratic-led state government (I can’t believe I just typed that). For one, the Texas Senate [is still red](https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/nov-2026-live-results-state-senate-house/?ref=thebarbedwire.com). So Democrats are going to have to get real good at politics and messaging. Quickly. 

And there’s so much damage to be undone: getting rid of those stupid school vouchers, funding public schools, fixing our idiotic THC laws, expanding healthcare coverage, and making sure that pregnant women have adequate healthcare.

That’s just off the top of my head. There’s so much more. I hope someone in power is making a list.

The GOP has run roughshod over us for decades. If Texas was an Airbnb, Republicans have spent the last 30 years trashing it.

And now that they’ve been swept away (for now), we’re left to clean up their mess.

Such is the lot of every Democrat. They break it, we fix it. 

But maybe the spell is broken. Now we know that better things are possible. We can afford nice things for real people; we don’t have to cut taxes endlessly on the 1% and hope that they’ll give us some scraps. 

And most of all, as a state, we don’t have to bow down to every shitty Californian ([cough](https://www.thebarbedwire.com/elon-musk-trolled-livestream/), [cough](https://www.thebarbedwire.com/spacex-wildlife-refuge-texas/)) who moved here to pay lower taxes. Deport *him*, I say. Go spew venom and conspiracy theories and hacky jokes somewhere else. 

We’ve got work to do.