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On an election night<\/span> handing Republicans a beating in critical House and Senate races across the country, the GOP fell short even in once deep-red Texas after a campaign run on a go-to outrage tactic: fearmongering over the rights of transgender people.<\/p>\n Democrats escaped the political wilderness in the Longhorn State on Tuesday night, when Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton \u2014 despite the far-right attorney general\u2019s relentless attacks on the trans community and his party\u2019s claims that Democrats would enforce so-called \u201ctransgenderism\u201d as a kind of ideology.\u00a0<\/p>\n The massive upset was paired with a victory for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, who beat Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott shortly after the Senate race was called for Talarico.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Dallas, Paxton voter Rachel Fuller told The Intercept she was alarmed by what she believed was Talarico\u2019s support for \u201cfar-fetched\u201d ideas, like \u201cgiving children the right to decide \u2014 and making parents, calling them abusive for not letting them have transgender changes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Her comments suggested some of the $78 million<\/a> Republicans spent on anti-trans attack advertisements in Texas were working. But they weren\u2019t enough to help Republicans hold onto power in Texas, which hasn\u2019t had a Democratic senator since the 1990s.<\/p>\n