GOP defectors like James, a lifelong Republican, say the party ‘lost their way’ as Democrats ride blue wave to flip Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — As the Democrats’ blue wave began to slam into Texas, Richard Torres, a Texan who has voted blue his entire life, kept peering at the results pouring in on reporters’ screens all around him.
And when it was announced Texas state Rep. James Talarico had toppled Ken Paxton, he sat down to take it in. Torres was the former chair of the Williamson County Democratic Party, where Talarico grew up and attended high school in Round Rock, Texas.
He never thought that Texas Republicans would be swept away by the oncoming blue wave.