WeedPress: The Paper Trail

ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

Republicans lost Congress and suffered their largest midterm Senate setback in 40 years. Texas Democrats swept the major statewide offices on the ballot after three decades of Republican dominance.

By Jason Karimi | WeedPress
November 4, 2026

Dan Patrick said Texans could vote him out if they did not like his fight against THC. They did.

The lieutenant governor who made a sweeping hemp ban a priority lost to Vikki Goodwin. Greg Abbott lost the governor’s race. Ken Paxton lost his bid for the U.S. Senate. Democrats swept the major statewide offices on the Texas ballot, ending a statewide losing streak that stretched back to 1994. Across the country, Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress.¹⁵⁶⁹

Patrick had been unusually clear about the choice. After Abbott vetoed his ban in June 2025, Patrick told reporters: “And if people want to vote me out of office for that, so be it.”⁹

By November 4, the state’s unofficial returns put Goodwin 590,066 votes ahead of him.⁵

How badly did Republicans lose?

The reported seven-seat Democratic Senate gain would make this the Republicans’ worst midterm Senate result since 1986, when they lost eight seats. Their 2006 Senate defeat cost them six. Democrats’ reported 54-seat, independent-inclusive majority puts Republicans out of control of the chamber, alongside their loss of the House.¹²³

There have been worse Republican defeats. In 1958, they lost 13 Senate seats and 48 House seats. They lost another 48 House seats in the 1974 midterms, after Watergate. The 2018 election cost them 41 House seats, although they gained two in the Senate that year.³⁴

Final House losses are still being counted. The results already justify calling this a historic humiliation; a claim that it was the worst defeat in the party’s entire history would need a record the returns have not yet established.

Texas supplies the most striking part of the story. In the November 4 state results, Hinojosa led Abbott by 696,897 votes. Talarico led Paxton by 1,181,133. Democrats also led the races for attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner and the Railroad Commission seat being contested. These are unofficial figures, subject to the remaining count and certification.⁵

For Texans who have spent years watching statewide Republican victories arrive with the regularity of a utility bill, that is a remarkable morning.

Patrick gave cannabis voters a reason to organize

The THC fight was already moving voters before Election Day. KUT’s October 30 reporting described retailers registering customers, circulating voter guides and hosting Goodwin. Some customers and business owners said cannabis access had persuaded them to vote Democratic, including people who had never voted a full Democratic ticket.⁹

Patrick helped make the choice personal. People buying products for sleep or pain were watching a lieutenant governor try to close the businesses they used. Store owners were trying to keep their doors open. Goodwin showed up at those stores and offered a different policy.⁹

Abbott’s role deserves a fair account. He vetoed Senate Bill 3 on June 22, 2025, stopping Patrick’s sweeping ban from becoming law. The Texas Hemp Business Council later included both Abbott and Hinojosa in its voter guide, crediting Abbott for the veto.⁷⁹

Restrictions followed through other channels. The Texas Department of State Health Services lists new consumable-hemp rules effective March 31, 2026, and a separate controlled-substance scheduling action effective July 31. A story that says Abbott simply signed Patrick’s ban would get the history wrong.⁸

The election does not tell us how many votes that fight cost Republicans. Prices, corruption concerns and the Iran war were also part of the national election coverage. But the cannabis backlash was visible, organized and documented before anyone knew the results. Patrick invited voters to remove him over this issue. Some of them said they intended to do exactly that.¹⁹

A gift to cartels

A government that shuts down lawful sellers still has to account for the people who want to buy. Some will quit. Others will look for another source. An unlicensed seller has an obvious opening when a licensed competitor disappears.

That is why I call the crackdown a gift to cartels. Prohibition can hand business to the very illegal market politicians say they are fighting. A dealer does not have to satisfy the testing, labeling and compliance requirements imposed on the store the state just closed.

DEA’s own threat assessment describes a substantial domestic illicit cannabis trade involving several kinds of criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels, and diversion from states where cultivation is legal. The report also makes clear why legalization alone cannot be expected to eliminate illegal supply.¹⁰

I cannot put a dollar figure on cartel gains from the Texas restrictions. Whether displaced customers bought illegally, crossed state lines, changed products or stopped buying would take additional reporting. The policy question is still unavoidable: where did officials expect those customers to go?

There are real consumer-protection questions about intoxicating products, children’s access and misleading packaging. Governments can require testing, enforce age limits and act against deceptive sellers. They should have to explain why closing a lawful source will produce a safer outcome for the people who depended on it.

I have heard the Libertarian rescue pitch before

The Republican defeat will attract people promising to build a new political home for disaffected voters. Bret Weinstein has been promoting a friendly takeover and rebranding of the Libertarian Party. Reporting on the Mises-backed American Liberty Party project describes an effort to recruit Thomas Massie. Neither the takeover nor a Massie candidacy is a completed deal.¹⁵¹⁶

I know the LP well enough to be skeptical. I was a Mises Caucus member. I moderated a Libertarian gubernatorial debate and hosted Jake Dorsch on my old Elemental Discourse podcast to discuss Igniting Liberty: Voices for Freedom Around the World.¹¹¹²

I had concerns about what I believed the caucus was willing to tolerate in its leadership, particularly dishonesty. I also believe the party has alienated people by embracing positions I consider far left. Those experiences leave me doubtful that another takeover campaign will produce the party its supporters keep promising.

The caucus already won control at the Reno convention in 2022. It had its opportunity to lead. The LP elected Evan McMahon chair this May; the new takeover proposal arrives four years after that earlier victory.¹³¹⁴

I want a party that takes individual liberty seriously enough to earn people’s trust. After watching these internal fights, I have little confidence that another rebranding will get it there.

Patients will need more than an election victory

For the patients and families WeedPress serves, the work begins with what the winners actually do. A campaign promise is useful when it becomes a bill, a rule change or a clear answer from the agency controlling access.

South Dakota families are dealing with their own questions about federal registration, state licensing and whether a dispensary can keep its shelves stocked. They need officials who will answer those questions plainly. They need to be able to find the answer without spending an evening reading regulations.

Texas shows that people affected by cannabis restrictions can organize, find allies and make elected officials pay attention. The next test will be whether the people who won keep showing up after the campaign signs come down.

Patrick told voters they could fire him. His replacement should remember how they got the job.

---

Notes

Election results and reporting checked November 4, 2026; returns remain unofficial. The LP passages include the author’s personal recollections and opinions. A formal Tucker Carlson role in the proposed party project was not verified and is not asserted here.

1. Associated Press, 2026 Midterm Election Results (Nov. 4, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/f126e12e05b579a327b98481c0ae2226.
2. United Press International, Senate Races: Election 2026 (Nov. 4, 2026), https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/11/04/senate-races-election-2026/9301793743154/.
3. Gerhard Peters, Seats in Congress Gained/Lost by the President’s Party in Mid-Term Elections, Am. Presidency Project (last visited Nov. 4, 2026), https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/seats-congress-gainedlost-the-presidents-party-mid-term-elections.
4. U.S. Senate, 1958 Midterm Revolution (last visited Nov. 4, 2026), https://www.senate.gov/about/parties-leadership/1958-midterm-revolution.htm.
5. Tex. Sec’y of State, Election Results: November 3, 2026 General Election (unofficial returns, Nov. 4, 2026), https://electionresults.sos.state.tx.us/results.html.
6. Associated Press, Texas Election Results (Nov. 4, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/6e285484736b5116629a3b6e37e1dda5.
7. Office of the Governor of Tex., Governor Abbott Vetoes Senate Bill 3 (June 22, 2025), https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-vetoes-senate-bill-3-89r.
8. Tex. Dep’t of State Health Servs., Consumable Hemp Program (last visited Nov. 4, 2026), https://www.dshs.texas.gov/consumable-hemp-program.
9. Nathan Bernier, Vikki Goodwin Rides Anger over THC in Texas Lt. Gov. Race, KUT (Oct. 30, 2026), https://www.kut.org/politics/2026-10-30/texas-lieutenant-governor-race-hemp-cannabis-thc-election-2026.
10. Drug Enf’t Admin., 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (2025), https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/2025NationalDrugThreatAssessment.pdf.
11. WeedPress, About the Publisher (last visited Nov. 4, 2026); author’s account of his debate and podcast work (the interview recording was not independently located), https://weedpress.org/about-the-publisher/.
12. Igniting Liberty: Voices for Freedom Around the World (Martin van Staden & Adam Barsouk eds., 2019) (listing Jake Dorsch among the contributors), https://books.google.com/books/about/Igniting_Liberty.html?id=i2XNwQEACAAJ.
13. Brian Doherty, Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party, Reason (May 29, 2022), https://reason.com/2022/05/29/mises-caucus-takes-control-of-libertarian-party/.
14. Libertarian Party, Evan McMahon Elected Chair at 2026 Libertarian National Convention (May 28, 2026), https://lp.org/evan-mcmahon-elected-chair-at-2026-libertarian-national-convention/.
15. Jordan Willow Evans, Mises Caucus Launches “American Liberty Party,” Seeks to Draft Thomas Massie for President, Indep. Pol. Rep. (Oct. 29, 2026), https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2026/10/mises-caucus-launches-american-liberty-party-seeks-to-draft-thomas-massie-for-president/.
16. Harold Hutchison, Bret Weinstein Unveils New Challenger to Washington’s “Uniparty”—and It Involves Thomas Massie, Daily Caller (Nov. 3, 2026), https://dailycaller.com/2026/11/03/bret-weinstein-unveils-new-challenger-to-washingtons-uniparty-and-it-involves-thomas-massie/.