Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* After several years in which Democratic officials in Texas said the Lone Star State was poised to turn blue, there’s finally evidence to bolster their arguments: MS NOW confirmed Wednesday that Democrats have won an unexpected majority in Texas’ state House.

This coincides with Texans also backing Democratic nominees in races for U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, state attorney general, agriculture commissioner and railroad commissioner.

* Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race has not yet been called, but according to MS NOW’s latest reporting, Democratic nominee Scott Colom’s advantage over incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith grew to roughly 1,000 votes the day after Election Day.

It’s worth emphasizing, however, that Mississippi is the only state in the nation with no legal provision that allows for a recount in a statewide election, suggesting some court fights are possible.

* As for the cycle’s other uncalled U.S. Senate race, it might be a while before we have a sense of the winner in Alaska. According to MS NOW’s latest reporting, with more than 70% of votes counted, former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola leads incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by just 626 votes.

* In one of the nation’s most closely watched U.S. House races, The Associated Press has called the contest in Montana’s 1st Congressional District: Democrat Sam Forstag, a labor union leader and Forest Service smokejumper, prevailed over Republican Aaron Flint, a conservative talk radio host.

* On Capitol Hill, where House Speaker Mike Johnson is giving up his Republican leadership post, there’s already a brewing fight to succeed him and serve as House minority leader in the next Congress. Donald Trump said Wednesday that the White House will “stay out” of the intraparty dispute, though it’s unclear whether that’s by choice or the result of GOP lawmakers telling the president to steer clear.

* In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brendan Boyle conceded this week that he had been eyeing a possible Democratic primary against Sen. John Fetterman, but Boyle has instead decided to focus his energies on serving as the incoming chair of the House Budget Committee.

* Remember in March, when then-Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of California tried to salvage his career by becoming an independent? It didn’t work. MS NOW has called his race, and based on the latest tallies — a little over 50% of the expected votes — Democrat Richard Pan, a physician and former state senator, leads Kiley by nearly 15 percentage points in a district reshaped by California’s redistricting, thus ending the congressman’s two terms in the House.

The post Thursday’s Campaign Round-Up, 11.5.26: Democrats retake majority in Texas state House appeared first on MS NOW.

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From MS Now.