Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to find a bright side after one of the worst nights in modern Texas Republican history. Democrats swept the statewide races, with James Talarico beating Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate, Gina Hinojosa defeating Gov. Greg Abbott, and Vikki Goodwin ousting Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. That leaves Cruz as the only Republican still holding statewide office in Texas, a fact he has openly admitted, saying "Texas is blue." Even so, he is promising a comeback, insisting that Texas "will be red again" and that the state hasn't fundamentally changed who it is.

Cruz's "silver lining" is a prediction that Democrats will overreach. He claims the party has been taken over by "radicals," including what he calls Marxists and Islamists, and says they will push an extreme agenda in Washington that causes buyer's remorse among voters who wanted something different. Those are Cruz's own characterizations, and Democrats reject them, arguing that voters sent them a clear mandate over cost-of-living worries and other concerns. Cruz says Republicans now have to offer common-sense, free-market policies that make a real difference for working men and women, a message he has paired with a vow to rebuild the party as a "true blue-collar party." Whether Texas swings back, or whether this was the start of a lasting shift, is the question that will shape the state's politics through 2028.