# Texas Democrat Talarico flips Senate seat, appears on SNL

> James Talarico won Texas's U.S. Senate race for Democrats and made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live days later.
- Title: Texas Democrat Talarico flips Senate seat, appears on SNL
- Summary: James Talarico won Texas's U.S. Senate race for Democrats and made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live days later.
- Keywords: james talarico, ken paxton, texas senate race, democrats, saturday night live, 2026 election, NBC News
- Source: NBC News — https://nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/james-talarico-kicks-off-snl-rcna608071
- Author: Dennis Romero
- Published: 2026-11-08T07:25:02.381+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: james talarico, ken paxton, texas senate race, democrats, saturday night live, 2026 election, politics, news
## Democrat flips Texas Senate seat
James Talarico, a state lawmaker and seminarian, defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday, flipping the seat from Republican to Democratic for the first time in decades.
## Texas Democrats sweep statewide offices
Talarico's victory was part of a sweep by Texas Democrats, who claimed every statewide office up for grabs, including state Rep. Gina Hinojosa's gubernatorial win after a decades-long drought.
## Talarico appears on SNL cold open
Days after his election victory, Talarico made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live's cold open, which featured celebrations of Tuesday's Democratic wins and set up Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as likely House speaker.
## Talarico jokes about campaign texts
The senator-elect told the SNL audience, "I'm James Talarico, the guy who's been texting you every day asking for five dollars." He then suggested working with President Trump to make life better for everyday Americans.

> I'm James Talarico, the guy who's been texting you every day asking for $5.
## Key takeaway

Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton to flip Texas's U.S. Senate seat blue for the first time in decades, then appeared on SNL.