Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, easily defeating four-term Senator John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary run-off.
Paxton’s victory in the runoff makes Cornyn, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, the first Republican Senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection. Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.”
Cornyn, a longtime establishment conservative and former Republican whip, had represented Texas in the Senate since 2002 and entered the race as the favourite, backed by major donors and senior Republican figures.
However, the Senator struggled to connect with Trump’s political base.Cornyn had previously criticised Trump and angered some conservatives by supporting bipartisan gun legislation after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, while Paxton presented himself as one of Trump’s strongest allies.
Trump’s backing reshaped the race, making Cornyn the latest Republican incumbent to lose after falling out of favour with the President. This month, Trump’s endorsement of Republican primary challengers ousted incumbents including Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie.
Cornyn told reporters after the race was called, “Tonight, we’ve come up short.” He added that he has always supported the Republican ticket and he intended “to do so again.”
Cornyn led Paxton in the March 3 primary but failed to win a majority. That was after Cornyn and his supporters waged a monthslong advertising campaign, mostly attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions.
The two-term Attorney General was acquitted on corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial, where allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.” It gave Cornyn fodder for an ad campaign that, along with allied groups, spent roughly $109 million between the primary and runoff elections.
Immediately after the primary, Trump promised to endorse but didn’t act until after early voting began last week. “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him.
Trump, in his endorsement, poked at Cornyn, saying he “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”
Paxton has spent years facing legal, ethical and personal controversies, including the 2023 impeachment by the Republican-led Texas House of Representatives, allegations of bribery and misconduct, and a high-profile divorce. The 63-year-old was later acquitted by the Texas Senate and has repeatedly dismissed the allegations against him as politically motivated attacks.
Paxton told cheering supporters at his election night party, “Tonight, we just made history,” praising Trump’s endorsement.
“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen. President Trump is the leader of our party, and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”
Ken Paxton
Paxton stated that “Without a shadow of a doubt,” he will be the “Democrats’ number one target in November.”
Paxton To Face James Talarico
Paxton will now face Democratic state Representative James Talarico in a closely watched November race that could help decide control of the US Senate. Talarico, 37, has attracted moderate and independent voters, while some Republicans privately fear Paxton could struggle in a general election despite his popularity with Trump supporters.
The candidates that Trump endorsed in those states are expected to easily win against Democratic opponents. However, the President’s decision to boost Paxton, who won with a sliver of the Republican base who shrugged off his past scandals, may be a bigger gamble in the general election.
An internal Republican Senate campaign memo circulated last year warned that a Paxton nomination could give Democrats a rare opportunity to flip Texas and force Republicans to spend heavily defending a seat long considered safe.
Paxton predicted that Talarico is “going to raise more money than any Democrat in America” and urged his followers to donate to his campaign. “If Republicans lose this state, we lose the country,” Paxton warned.
Within minutes of Paxton being declared the winner of the Republican primary run-off for US Senate, the Democrat called him “the most corrupt politician in America” in a social media post. “He embodies the broken system we’re running against,” Talarico wrote on X.
In another post, he invited Cornyn’s supporters to vote for him. “You have a place in our campaign,” Talarico noted.
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