Ted Cruz admitted ‘Texas is blue’ after the midterms, saying he’s now the only

“History was made last night. For months, we were saying that 2026 was the most consequential midterm election of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, we were right. Sometimes history is to be celebrated; other times, it is to be mourned. Always, it must be reckoned with.” In a long post on X, Sen. Ted Cruz reflected on the state of the Republican Party and the reasons he believed led to its midterm losses.

Cruz described the outcome as a “blue tsunami” and an “a** kicking” that serves as a “Watergate-level repudiation” of the GOP. As Cruz wrote, “Texas is blue. That is a hard sentence to utter. But Texas, today at least, is blue. As we sit here today, I am the only statewide elected Republican who remains in Texas.” The Houston Chronicle noted that every other statewide-elected Republican in Texas had been ousted.

Bill King, a fellow of Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy, told the Houston Chronicle that Cruz, who is an acquaintance, must be “feeling kind of alone” at the moment and posited, “Clearly had he been on the ballot last night, he would have lost, given the sea change this was.” The Atlantic reported that Democrats now hold the governorship and a U.S. Senate seat, roles a Democrat hadn’t held since 1994 and 1993, respectively.

Cruz pointed to an economic disconnect

Cruz wrote that there’s a “real economic disconnect” between Republicans and voters. In his post, he described the lengths people went to cope with the high cost of living, noting that “29 percent of Americans have used buy now, pay later for groceries this year,” and that “75 million paid plasma donations” were made in 2026. “That is very real pain from real Americans, and too many Republican politicians seem like they didn’t understand or they didn’t care.” President Trump has blamed Fox News for the losses.

The Atlantic reported that Texas has become wealthier, more urban, and more racially diverse. The outlet noted that an influx of corporate headquarters, including Tesla and Oracle, has brought in residents who are often more college-educated and, per The Atlantic, more likely to lean Democratic. The outlet also reported that Ken Paxton’s nomination hurt the GOP.

The Atlantic described Paxton as a flawed candidate weighed down by past scandals, and reported that Democrat James Talarico positioned himself as a moderate and won rural areas by talking openly about his faith while addressing voters’ concerns.

The Houston Chronicle noted that Cruz is now looking ahead to a challenging reality. With Democrats taking control of the Senate, he will lose his chairmanship of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. On X, he wrote that he would “fight the madness” while working with Talarico on “reasonable” initiatives to better the state. He also stressed the importance of rebuilding the party by “getting behind policies that directly benefit the constituents we lost.”

Cruz said that he was “filled with hope and optimism.” He wrote, “We will rebuild as a true blue-collar party, not by embracing socialism, but by being real free-market conservatives.”