Topline
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton beat Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday in the heated runoff for the Texas Senate GOP primary, in a race that has divided the Republican Party after President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton over the four-term incumbent, bucking many GOP donors and establishment Republicans.
Key Facts
Paxton held 62.5% shortly after the Associated Press called the race, ahead of Cornyn’s 37.5%.
Paxton was widely expected to win after Trump endorsed him on May 19, after refusing to weigh in during the initial primary in March, when Cornyn finished ahead of Paxton by about one point and another challenger, Rep. Wesley Hunt, came in a distant third.
Since no candidate secured more than 50% of the votes in the initial primary, the contest moved to a runoff.
Trump said Paxton is “someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT” in a Truth Social post announcing his endorsement, which surprised and angered many Senate Republicans.
Trump said Cornyn “is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” noting Cornyn was “very late in backing me” (Cornyn was critical of Trump in the 2016 presidential race and supported Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during the primary, before lining up behind Trump when he became the nominee).
The general election contest is expected to be highly competitive: A Texas Southern University/YouGov poll taken April 22-May 6 found Cornyn leading the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, in a hypothetical matchup by one point, and Talarico and Paxton tied.
Big Number
$25 million. That’s how much was spent on ads in the runoff, including $20 million for Cornyn and $5 million for Paxton, according to AdImpact.
Why Did Trump Endorse Paxton?
Trump announced his endorsement of Paxton shortly after Ed Gallrein, the candidate he endorsed in the hotly contested primary for Rep. Thomas Massie’s, R-Ky., seat, defeated the incumbent in the May 19 election. Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., also finished ahead of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., two days earlier in the state’s GOP Senate primary. Trump’s endorsement of Paxton came as he is frustrated with Cornyn’s Republican colleagues over their resistance to some of his legislative priorities, including eliminating the filibuster, funding his East Wing ballroom project, refusing to fire the Senate parliamentarian and failing to pass legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Paxton aligns more with Trump’s hard-right base, and Cornyn is the more traditional conservative candidate.
Why Is Paxton Controversial?
Paxton was suspended from office and impeached in 2023 over accusations of abuse of office, including using his position to benefit a donor and obstructing justice in a separate securities fraud case against him. Paxton was acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment by the Texas state Senate. Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015, shortly after he was first elected attorney general, for allegedly misleading investors by encouraging them to put money into a technology company without informing them he made commission on their investments. He reached a deal with prosecutors nearly a decade later that required him to pay restitution, but not admit guilt. Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce from Paxton, to whom she was married for 38 years, last July, citing “recent discoveries” and adultery. Paxton has used his office to promote hard-right causes, including aggressively enforcing restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care and immigration crackdowns.