🌊Hinojosa, Talarico cruise, Simmons ousts O'Hare; Large FW financial firm acquired.

Democrats in Texas won the Governor's office, the Senate seat and the Tarrant County Judge's race. If the wins by Gina Hinojosa over Governor Greg Abbott, James Talerico over Ken Paxton in the Senate race, and Alisa Simmons over County Judge Tim O'Hare were surprising, the margins were shocking. Nationally, the Democrats took control of the Senate and the House, a massive shift that could affect President Trump's ability to govern. See statewide and local results.

JTaylor, the largest independent tax, audit and advisory firm in Tarrant County, has become part of Fargo, N. Dakota’s Eide Bailly, a firm with more than 4,000 employees in 20 states.

Arlington-based CAE USA has been awarded a $14,800,647 contract for Taiwan Air Force F-16 Block 20V and Block 70 Mission Training Center Program contractor logistics support futures. This contract provides CLS, spares management, travel, data, and dislocation. Work is expected to be completed by Jan. 30, 2032.

Drs. Scott and David Ballard have partnered with Elevate Dental Partners, a dental support organization, in a recapitalization of their six-location north Texas practice group, according to Polaris Healthcare Partners, which served as the Ballards' sell-side advisor. Elevate acquires the equity in Ballard's Compass Dental Services, the group's corporate entity, and takes over administrative functions, including accounting, HR and payroll. The Ballards retain full clinical autonomy.

Fort Worth-based CorVel said second-quarter revenue rose 11% to $267 million. Diluted earnings per share climbed 24% to $0.67 and net income rose to $34.1 million. The workers' compensation and claims-management company ended the quarter with $270 million in cash and no borrowings, and bought back $18.1 million of its stock.

The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, which honors the lives and legacies of women who shape the West, announced details of its 16,000-square-foot westward expansion. Features include a new entrance facing Ariat Arena, four new gallery spaces that will include a fashion gallery, personal collection gallery, photography gallery, and an 18-horse carousel custom-made in San Francisco. The space will also include a 250-guest event venue and dedicated space for K-12 programming. At noon Saturday, the public is invited to attend and take a look. 

California-based SecureSpace Self Storage entered Dallas-Fort Worth with four re-branded stores, three of them in Tarrant County: SecureSpace Saginaw, SecureSpace Chisholm Trail in Crowley and SecureSpace Euless, on Trinity Boulevard at Highway 157.

Sunbelt Rentals will add a 33,880-square-foot building to its Grapevine campus for its Aerial Work Platform division, which is moving from Arlington. It will be the sixth building on the campus, with plans for an additional battery energy storage system.

Fort Worth- and Chicago-based Actuate Therapeutics received a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office notice of allowance covering an oral-tablet version of elraglusib, its experimental cancer drug. The tablet is intended to provide more convenient daily dosing and more consistent drug exposure.

Trinity Real Estate Investment Services, a Fort Worth-based commercial brokerage, has opened an Atlanta office. Experienced net lease brokers Rutland Patterson and Sam Roe joined Trinity as Directors of Net Lease Investment Sales to lead the office. 

FORMAT, a Fort Worth Pilates and fitness studio, will open a second location at Morado on Berry next to TCU, with construction starting in January. TCU students make up about half its clients.

University of Texas at Arlington researchers found that widely available AI tools can mine details from public social-media posts and use them to create highly personalized phishing emails. The research will be presented at a cybersecurity symposium in Seoul in March.

UNT Health Fort Worth's College of Nursing received a $216,643 federal award to help prepare the next generation of nurse educators. The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the funding through its Nurse Faculty Loan Program to provide financial assistance to graduate nursing students pursuing careers in nursing education.

The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce has made office space available for a partnership with the Tarrant Small Business Development Center, bringing resources and professional business advising to Arlington’s small business community.

Greenwood/Mount Olivet filed for a $2.6 million, 4,960-square-foot maintenance and administration building at 2161 Watauga Road in Fort Worth. Quorum Architects is the designer.

The Botanical Research Institute of Texas, doing business as Fort Worth Botanic Garden, filed for a $275,000 renovation of an existing 500-square-foot structure at 3220 Botanic Gardens Blvd. to convert it into a photography and grow lab. Schwarz-Hanson Architects is the designer. Work is scheduled from Jan. 15 to May 15, 2027.

Defense industry news:

• Lockheed Martin said it plans to invest $420 million to expand its manufacturing operations in Camden, AR, adding 650 full-time jobs over the next five years. The expansion will increase production capacity for several missile systems. 

• The State Department approved a possible $2.1-billion sale to Ukraine of 500 Patriot PAC-3 MSE missiles, plus spare parts and support. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie would be the prime contractor.

• The 136th Airlift Wing of the Texas Air National Guard hired Cape Fox Mountain Point to retrofit and extend the C-130J Fuel Cell Hangar (Building 1674) at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth. The scope of the work is here. 

Snippets:

• Fort Worth's Pat Green is about to release a rare album recorded live at Luckenbach. 

• The historic Stockyards Hotel is undergoing a $30-million interior renovation ahead of a 2027 re-opening.

• Sam’s Club and Dutch Bros Coffee were among those with recent public permit filings. See the list here.

Today in history: 1924 = Miriam "Ma" Ferguson of Texas and Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first women elected governors in U.S. history. Ferguson's victory came after her husband, former Gov. James Ferguson, was barred from holding office following his impeachment. Campaigning as a political partnership with her husband, she defeated Republican George C. Butte.

Significant stat: 3 = Straight years that Dallas-Fort Worth has ranked as the top U.S. real estate market in the Urban Land Institute and PwC's Emerging Trends in Real Estate report. The 2027 edition puts Nashville, Miami, Raleigh/Durham and San Francisco next.

Announcements:

• Fort Worth EDP: Hires Payton Capps as Vice President of Business Recruitment. 

• PNC Bank: Promotes Fort Worth banker Brian Rudd to Texas Regional Executive for Commercial Banking. 

• JPS Health Network: Promotes Veronica Aguillon to Director of Talent Management and Engagement.

• Kelly Hart: Adds Heather Phillips to Litigation practice. 

• Tarleton State University: Promotes Grace Lampo to Marketing Manager. 

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Promotes Jessie Kiannejad to Product Manager III - Engineer. 

• One Safe Place: Ken Shetter, President & General Counsel since its founding in May 2005, stepped down. Joel Glenn, the current board chair, is serving as interim CEO for the Near Southside non-profit.

• 2026 Business Executives of the Year: Laura Bird (President of Anthracite Realty Partners) and husband Greg Bird (CEO and President of Jetta Operating Company) were honored at an event co-presented by Texas Wesleyan University, the Fort Worth Report, and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.

• Stephens Greth Foundation: Hires Jennifer Sampson as CEO. 

• DuraPlas: Adds Vivian Garcia as Senior Human Resources Generalist. 

• GL Seaman & Company: Promotes Camber Brown to Director of Business Development.

• National Women's Shelter Network: Honors Center for Transforming Lives as its Program of the Year.

• University of Texas Regents: Awards Outstanding Teaching Award to UT-Arlington mathematics lecturer Jeremy Glass.

• Story & Strategy: Adds Chelsea Hudson as Communications Specialist.

• Ashton Depot: Hires Megan Alvarez as Catering Sales Manager.

• CBRE: Hires Helena Waits as Account Director. 

• TriVAN Roofing: Hires Curtiss Bird as Sales Manager for D-FW. 

• American Airlines: Hires Abby Walker as Revenue Management Analyst. 

• ARX Home Pro Solutions: Launched by Owner and CEO Greg Spence.

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