The special election runoff to fill the remainder of former Sen. Kelly Hancock’s term in Texas Senate District (SD) 9 concluded Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. Democrat Taylor Rehmet prevailed over Republican Leigh Wambsganns in the Tarrant County race.  

SD 9 voters had not elected a Democratic senator over the last three decades, even under the modern iterations of the SD 9 map. Despite that history, Rehmet bested his opponent by more than 17 points, 57 to 42 percent. He did so while being outspent 12:1; Rehmet spent $200,000 to Wambsganss’s $2.4 million. The win means Rehmet will now serve the remainder of Hancock’s term, which runs through the end of 2026. Rehmet and Wambsganss will face off again in a rematch in the November general election, which will determine who will serve as the Senator from SD 9 for the next four years.  

Much is likely to be speculated about the reasons for Rehmet’s win and Wambsganss’s loss in the coming days, weeks, and months. It is uncertain whether the larger electorate that tends to turn out in November will reelect Rehmet, but there is nothing about the makeup of the voters in this past weekend’s special election that would suggest a repeat is not a real possibility. Even more interesting will be whether this shift, if it is indeed a trend, is confined to Tarrant County, perhaps indicating that the SD 9 race was largely shaped by local political issues, or if it is more widespread. Also, it remains to be seen whether election outcomes in November will impact the policy agendas of Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), or the Republican Party of Texas going into the 2027 legislative session, as was the case in the 2019 legislative session that followed a significant narrowing of the state’s partisan gap during the 2018 general election.