Fox News calls Texas's Senate race for Democrat James Talarico over Paxton

Fox News called Texas's U.S. Senate race for Democrat James Talarico over Republican Ken Paxton late Tuesday night, according to its election results coverage. The call came at 11:06 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 3 and joins an earlier call from the Associated Press, which reported that Talarico won election to the Senate from Texas.

The two calls follow Poliwave's results page, which earlier listed Talarico as the winner. Its AP-sourced count on Tuesday evening had Talarico ahead of Paxton 59.8% to 38.7%, with 51.9% of precincts reporting. The Texas Tribune also reported Talarico leading in early returns, with strong showings in urban areas and North Texas suburbs.

The Fox News call is the second major outlet to name a winner. A matching call from NBC has not been independently verified. If the three major outlets do not all call the race for the same candidate, official certification will decide the result.

Talarico won the Democratic nomination in March. Paxton, the state attorney general, beat incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the May 26 runoff. Talarico's lead on election night was wider than the final polling suggested. The last New York Times/Siena poll before the election showed him ahead of Paxton 50% to 43%.

A Talarico victory would also be a historic result for Texas. No Democrat has won statewide office there since 1994.

What comes next is confirmation. Further returns will show whether Talarico's lead holds as the remaining precincts report. An NBC call would put all three outlets on the same side. Without it, certification of the results will settle the race.