The race matched a leftist extremist against a Republican attorney general in Ken Paxton who carried a strong conservative record but personal baggage.
Talarico had opened up a lead of almost 20 points with a little more than half the vote recorded. He went on to lead 59%-39% with more than 70% of the vote recorded.
Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the GOP primary. Cornyn had held the seat since 2002.
Talarico becomes the first Texas Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
Talarico, a state representative, former public school teacher and a Presbyterian seminary student, frequently incorporated his faith into his campaign, but his faith was confusing and controversial.
"He's trying to proclaim the gospel: 'I'm a Christian. Follow me. Listen to me.' But virtually everything he says is wrong," Nevada pastor Jeff Mullen recently told American Family Radio (AFR). "His theology is a complete train wreck."
He has approximately one year of coursework left to finish the M.Div. program, but his liberal statements that "Jesus never said anything" about abortion and that the Bible is "all over the place" on gender and marriage have caused widespread dismay, criticism and theological condemnation from evangelical Christians.
In an interview with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, for example, Talarico was asked about comparative religion and whether he believes Christianity "to be more true than other religions."
"Christianity points to the truth," he responded, adding that he believes "other religions of love point to the same truth."
After claiming to have learned more about Christianity "by learning more about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism," Talarico said he views "these beautiful faith traditions as circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos" and said, "That truth is inherently a mystery."
Paxton presented himself as a conservative and a fighter and attacked Talarico as too liberal for Texas.
