The Texas Senate seat that flipped blue in January, spurring hope and concern for the possibility of more Democratic wins in Tarrant County, is back on the ballot for the November midterms.
Democratic Sen. Taylor Rehmet and Republican activist Leigh Wambsganss face off again for the Senate District 9 seat that represents most of Tarrant County, less than 10 months after the two battled it out in a special election and runoff that drew national attention to the country’s largest swing county.
Rehmet, a 34-year-old Air Force veteran and machinist, took office in February after besting Wambsganss by 14 percentage points in the district that supported President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection by 17 points. Wambsganss, 59, is a Trump-endorsed executive at Patriot Mobile, the Grapevine-based Christian, conservative cell service provider.
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The January runoff was largely ceremonial, as the Texas Legislature doesn’t reconvene until early next year. Rehmet’s victory earned him the remaining 10 months of a vacant term, but the Nov. 3 midterms will determine which candidate gets the next four-year term and represents Senate District 9 during the 2027 legislative session.
Political analysts note the circumstances around the upcoming midterms differ vastly from the conditions in which Rehmet won his seat, signaling the possibility of a different outcome in November. Special elections called to fill vacancies typically garner lower voter turnout than presidential or midterm elections, and Texas elections don’t typically occur in January. During the runoff, Rehmet and Wambsganss were the only candidates on the ballot, but Tarrant County’s midterms feature more than 70 races.
“The special election, certainly Rehmet had had just about everything working in his favor,” said Adam Schiffer, a political science professor at Texas Christian University. “On paper, there are certain things that will play more to the Republican’s advantage this fall, and it may be tougher for Rehmet to hang on.”
In the months since Rehmet’s victory, Republican leaders and elected officials cited the loss as motivation to further their goal of keeping Tarrant County red, while Democrats sought to capitalize on the momentum to drive more blue victories.
Long considered a Republican stronghold, Tarrant County has occasionally shown signs of purple, as voters narrowly supported Democrats at the top of presidential and midterm ballots, including Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate in 2018 and Joe Biden for president in 2020.
National attention on Texas and Tarrant County’s midterms — amplified by the high-profile, controversial U.S. Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico — could drive partisan loyalty and “remind Republicans that they need to vote Republican” in November, Schiffer said.
The flip side of that attention, he said, is that it spotlights fractures and controversies within the Republican party — such as former Tarrant County GOP chairman Bo French’s racist social media posts as he campaigns for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission. It also calls into question the Republican party’s favorability as Democrats lean into national tension over Trump’s handling of the economy, immigration and international war.
“Democrats are extremely energized and motivated to vote right now, and Republicans are a bit dispirited,” Schiffer told the Fort Worth Report. “So that's the kind of thing that then can work to Rehmet’s advantage.”
What does a state senator do?
The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, forming the state’s lawmaking body along with the House of Representatives. Senators write, debate and vote on legislation, as well as vote on the state budget.
The Texas Senate has 31 members, elected to staggered four-year terms. Sixteen Senate seats are on the ballot in November, including two of the five that touch Tarrant County, Districts 9 and 22. Senators are paid $7,200 annually.
During Rehmet’s first seven months in office, his fellow legislators have met for committee meetings and interim hearings to study policy topics and shape legislative priorities. The freshman senator was the only one — aside from three senators vacating their seats — to not be assigned to a committee by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Rehmet said he’s been busy regardless, drafting and filing 35 legislative bills and holding more than 200 meetings with elected officials, partner organizations, and community members to identify policies to help the district.
In April, Rehmet hosted a town hall meeting for constituents, in which he promised to fight for public education in Austin but urged residents to keep applying pressure to their local government. His midterms campaign has continued an emphasis on addressing affordability and bolstering public education.
“When I talk to folks, oftentimes I hear that I was the first person to really hear them out, ask follow up questions, and make a plan to fix the problem,” Rehmet said via email. “Sometimes it is small things that take a little bit of time, sometimes it is really big things that may take more than a Legislative Session to resolve. But when we center working people in the governing process instead of politicians’ egos and billionaires’ checkbooks, we can start to see meaningful results.”
Since her loss in January, Wambsganss has remained focused on reaching voters, saying via email that her victory hinges on “meeting working families where they’re at.” Her midterms campaign continued a focus on property tax relief, in addition to strengthening public education and addressing Texans’ affordability crisis.
Ahead of the runoff, Wambsganss branded herself as “ultra-MAGA” and emphasized property tax relief, border security and gun rights as campaign priorities.
Political observers have questioned whether Wambsganss hopes to appeal to a more moderate audience by dialing back the color red and talking less about Trump during her campaign. Wambsganss dismissed the speculation as “silly,” saying she changed her campaign signs to blue like many Republicans across the county as a “graphic design decision for what shows up best on the side of the road,” and she remains proud of all her endorsements, which are listed online.
“We are expanding our reach, sharpening our message and campaigning in every neighborhood until every voter knows what is at stake,” Wambsganss told the Report via email. “No stone will be left unturned in our fight to keep Tarrant County and Texas working for taxpayers, not radical special interests.”
Schiffer, the TCU professor, said it’s “not at all unusual” for candidates to back away from extreme partisanship after a primary and appeal to a middle ground, especially in years when their party is generally seen less favorably. But most voters typically vote with their party anyway, especially the further down the ballot they get, he added.
Both candidates filled out Fort Worth Report questionnaires about their campaign priorities and legislative agendas, but neither agreed to participate in a candidate forum Oct. 8.
In their questionnaire submissions, Rehmet and Wambsganss aligned on a desire to regulate Texas’ growing data center landscape and require developers to provide their own power to connect to the state’s energy grid, after both previously told the Report they support a statewide moratorium on the developments. Both candidates support regulating THC products without entirely outlawing the use of cannabis.
“I support innovation and investment, but not at the expense of Texas families,” Wambsganss wrote in her questionnaire. “Data centers should not drive-up electric bills, strain our grid, consume scarce water, or overwhelm neighborhoods with noise, lights, and traffic.
On other issues, such as border security, the candidates agreed that security is important but differed in their approach to immigration enforcement. Wambsganss wants to strengthen collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, while Rehmet sees a need for faster immigration courts and viable pathways for people to immigrate legally.
“Strong borders and human dignity are not competing ideas,” Rehmet wrote in his questionnaire. “It is 2026, and Texans deserve something better than another election fought over the same border crisis. They deserve a government competent enough to actually solve it.”
After Rehmet’s victory in January, Republican leaders conceded that Democrats had better mobilized their voter base and urged conservatives not to get complacent in the rest of this year’s elections. Tarrant County GOP chairman Tim Davis said at the time the Republican loss signaled that his party needs to raise money aggressively and spend it efficiently, while mobilizing every voter in the county.
As November nears, Davis and his counterpart, Tarrant County Democratic Party chairwoman Allison Campolo, agree that turnout will be key to either candidates’ success.
“We’ll continue to emphasize the issues that matter most to voters: keeping taxes low and reducing crime so that Tarrant County remains the best place to live in the state,” Davis said via text message Tuesday. “Leigh Wambsganss and state Republican leaders have a real plan to reduce runaway property taxes. All I’ve heard from the other side are their plans to keep taxing and spending.”
Meanwhile, “the energy for the Democratic side is still there,” Campolo said. Rehmet’s background as a union organizer and focus on affordability and labor protections has resonated with voters from day one and will continue to until November, she said.
“People are tired of Republicans trying to run on the culture wars, and people are especially tired of that when they can't afford groceries and they can't afford gas,” Campolo said. “While Republicans in the state and county have been governing for between 30 and 40 years, we have nothing to show for it.”
On the fundraising front, Rehmet’s campaign has outraised and outspent Wambsganss’ during the period from the runoff election to the end of June — a stark contrast to their campaigning for the special election and runoff, when Wambsganss raised and spent more than $2 million.
This year, Rehmet has raised about $246,000, while Wambsganss raised about $142,000 and took out a $150,000 loan. As of June, Rehmet had spent about $275,000, the majority of which paid for consulting services, while Wambsganss paid nearly $250,000, also largely for consulting. Their next campaign finance disclosures are due to the Texas Ethics Commission on Oct. 5.
Recapping the race for Texas Senate District 9
- June 19, 2025: Republican Sen. Kelly Hancock steps down from the Texas Senate District 9 seat to accept Gov. Greg Abbott’s appointment to be acting state comptroller. Then-comptroller Glenn Hegar resigned to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
- July 1, 2025: Hancock is sworn in as acting comptroller, leaving the Senate District 9 seat vacant for the rest of his term, which ends in January 2027.
- Nov. 5, 2025: The special election to fill Hancock’s unexpired term featured three candidates: Air Force veteran and machinist Taylor Rehmet, Patriot Mobile executive Leigh Wambsganss and former Southlake mayor John Huffman. Rehmet wins the most votes but lands shy of 50%, triggering a runoff against the second place vote-getter, Wambsganss.
- Jan. 31, 2026: Rehmet wins the runoff against Wambsganss by 14 points, flipping the Senate district President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024.
- Feb. 19, 2026: Rehmet is sworn into office, filling the remainder of Hancock’s term and becoming the first Democrat to hold the Senate District 9 seat in more than 30 years.
- March 3, 2026: Both Rehmet and Wambsganss run unopposed in the primaries to win their parties’ nominations for the November midterms.
- Nov. 3, 2026: Rehmet and Wambsganss face off again in the general election for Senate District 9.
- Jan. 12, 2027: The winner in the November midterms is sworn into office on the first day of the 90th Texas legislative session.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
