The New Union Leader Turned Texas Senator-Elect

On Saturday night a Democrat flipped a state senate seat in Tarrant County long held by Republicans.

The race for State Senate District 9 was to fill the remainder of the term of Kelly Hancock, who was named acting Comptroller by Governor Abbott. A Democrat hadn’t held the seat since the 1980’s, and President Trump won the district in 2024 with 56 percent of the vote.

Yet Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a 33-year-old Fort Worth Air Force veteran and Lockheed Martin union leader, defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss of Southlake in the runoff by more than 14 percentage points. Wambsganss is an executive at Patriot Mobile, which describes itself as “America’s only Christian conservative wireless provider.”

“Tonight, this win goes to everyday working people,” Rehmet told supporters at Nickel City, a bar in Fort Worth. The mechanic at one of the county’s largest employers added, “We still have more work to do, but right now we are celebrating that we’ve worked so hard. And we have to follow the results. We have to continue to have our energy. We have a lot more work to do, and I did not do this alone. I did it because all of you showed up.”

Wambsganss conceded after midnight at Niki’s Italian Bistro and Piano Bar in North Richland Hills. “The Democrats were energized,” Wambsganss said. “Too many Republicans stayed home.” Still, she was looking ahead. “In November, it won’t just be my race, it’ll be statewide. We’ll have an up ballot to help pull that along.”

Rehmet may never cast a vote in the Capitol. This race was to fill an unexpired term. Voters will choose in November who will serve a full term. He faces an uphill battle in the fall, as Wambsganss noted. Numbers wise, the district is not in his favor. But Rehmet shouldn’t be counted out just yet.

Although he was outspent by millions, in the November special election, he almost won outright against Wambsganss and a second Republican, former Southlake Mayor John Huffman. While the two Republicans competed with each other on who was more aligned with the MAGA agenda, Rehmet focused on boosting his name recognition.

Republicans in Texas were certainly following the race. On the conservative Mark Davis Radio Show last week, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, calling from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, warned that a Rehmet win would signal to national donors that Republicans are vulnerable in the state. Republicans in Texas also have their eyes on the U.S. Senate race where Sen. John Cornyn is fighting for his political career against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Congressman Wesley Hunt who will face either Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett or State Rep. James Talarico.

Wambsganss is from the northeast part of Tarrant County, which traditionally has been deeply conservative. Patriot Mobile PAC, established by her company, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars securing conservative majorities on local school boards.

But recently, these school board gains have stalled. In 2025, voters rebelled against incumbents who supported an unsuccessful split of the Keller school district into two. That split would have established one within wealthy Keller and another from much larger, middle-class suburban north Fort Worth. Also last May, voters across the county in Katy and Mansfield rejected candidates supported by the Patriot Mobile PAC and the county GOP.

Emily Farris, a professor of political science at TCU, noted on Bluesky that Rehmet’s strategy of leaning into his union background proved successful.  “Rehmet is a union president, and this was an unapologetically pro-labor campaign.” His opponent, she noted, was “a Trump endorsed, billionaire backed candidate heavily involved in conservative school board wars.”

The Texas AFL-CIO also feels strongly in the pro-worker message from Rehmet. "This is a huge win for Texas workers," said Texas AFL-CIO President Leonard Aguilar. "Taylor embodies what it means to be a union leader – working together to address the struggles of real, everyday Texans."

At the national level, Rehmet is just the latest Democrat to flip a Republican seat since President Trump returned to office. Just last year Democrats flipped 25 seats in Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Rehmet thinks his message will still resonate in November too.

“We proved that when leaders take communities seriously, listen to voters, and fight for working people, new outcomes become possible,” he said. “From the very beginning, this campaign has focused on the real issues people face every day: lowering costs, protecting public schools, and restoring trust in a broken political system. That message brought together folks from across Senate District 9 who may not always agree, but share a belief that the government should work for everyday Texans."

Many Texas Republicans, however, are downplaying Rehmet's victory, even blaming a recent snowstorm for the GOP loss. President Trump similarly dismissed the race, noting he was not on the ballot.