Texas Senate District 9 flips as Taylor Rehmet defeats Leigh Wambsganss in runoff
A rare upset in Texas Senate District 9 delivered a clear result late Saturday night ET: Taylor Rehmet won the Texas state senate special election runoff in Tarrant County, defeating Leigh Wambsganss and flipping a seat Republicans had held for decades. The outcome is drawing attention well beyond North Texas because the district has recently voted comfortably Republican at the presidential level, yet the runoff margin wasn’t close.
The win sets up an immediate next chapter, too. This special election fills the remainder of the term; the seat will be back on the ballot in November in the regular cycle.
Tarrant County election results in SD 9
With all vote categories tallied in the county’s cumulative report, Rehmet finished with 54,280 votes (57.21%) to Wambsganss’ 40,600 (42.79%). Total ballots cast were 94,938, with 94,880 votes recorded in the state senate contest (a small number of undervotes accounted for the difference).
Texas SD 9 runoff results (unofficial, county cumulative totals)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Rehmet | Democrat | 54,280 | 57.21% |
| Leigh Wambsganss | Republican | 40,600 | 42.79% |
Why Texas SD9 became a national bellwether
This wasn’t a swingy, suburban seat on paper. In 2024, Donald Trump carried the district by about 17 points, making a double-digit Democratic win in a low-turnout runoff a political jolt. The broader geography adds context: Tarrant County has been tightening for years, and recent statewide campaigns have treated it as a key battleground county even while many local districts remain more conservative than the countywide average.
Because it was a one-race day for many voters, the runoff also offered a clean test of motivation. Both parties treated it as a message race: Republicans framed it as protecting a reliably red senate seat; Democrats framed it as a referendum on everyday costs and local services.
Turnout, timing, and what voters responded to
Special elections often turn on who shows up rather than who registers. This runoff landed in late January, a period when weather, travel, and routine can all suppress participation. Even so, the raw vote total was sizable for a single-district special election, and the final margin suggested more than just a narrow turnout edge.
Rehmet’s support appeared to consolidate across the coalition Democrats need to win in modern Tarrant County—strong performance in denser precincts plus enough improvement in traditionally Republican areas to prevent the GOP from running up the score. Wambsganss’ side argued afterward that conditions depressed Republican turnout, but the final numbers still reflected a broad enough shift to produce a 14-point-plus win.
The candidates and campaign contrasts
Rehmet, an Air Force veteran and union machinist, leaned heavily into pocketbook themes: cost pressures on families, job security, and public education funding. His pitch was built to travel across party lines in a district where many voters are culturally conservative but economically sensitive.
Wambsganss, a conservative activist with visible backing from prominent Republicans, ran on a more traditional GOP message emphasizing alignment with the party’s statewide priorities. Her campaign entered the runoff with significant outside attention and resources, but the closing argument struggled to overcome the intensity gap that often defines special elections.
What happens next in the Texas Senate race 2026
Rehmet will be sworn in to serve the remainder of the term, but the seat returns to voters in November 2026 for a full four-year term. That means Texas Senate District 9 is likely to stay in the spotlight through the year as both parties decide whether to treat it as a top-tier target or a one-off special-election anomaly.
The legislature itself isn’t scheduled to reconvene until 2027, so the immediate policy impact in Austin is limited. The political impact, however, is immediate: both parties will study which precincts moved, which messages worked, and whether the result signals a durable shift in northern Tarrant County or a special-election surge that fades when turnout normalizes.
Sources consulted: Tarrant County Elections Administration; Texas Secretary of State; Associated Press; Reuters
