Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton decisively defeated John Cornyn, a roughly 23-year Senate incumbent, in Tuesday’s Republican U.S. Senate runoff, advancing to face Democrat James Talarico in November after opening a roughly 25-point lead.
Associated Press called the race at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, estimating 49 percent of the vote had been counted. At the time of the call, Paxton led Cornyn 62.5 percent to 37.5 percent, with 505,741 votes to Cornyn’s 303,276.
Paxton’s victory comes one week after President Donald Trump gave him his “Complete and Total Endorsement,” calling him “The Highly Respected Attorney General of Texas,” “an America First Patriot,” and “someone who has always been extremely loyal” to Trump and the MAGA movement. Trump praised Paxton as a supporter of “TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER” and “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” while saying Paxton would fight to cut taxes and regulations, secure the border, stop migrant crime, protect the Second Amendment, support Texas oil and gas, and safeguard elections.
Trump also criticized Cornyn while saying the incumbent was “a good man” with whom he had “worked well.” Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and was “very late” in backing him during his run for the Republican nomination and presidency. Paxton responded to the endorsement by saying he was “incredibly honored” and looked forward to championing Trump’s America First agenda in the Senate. On The Alex Marlow Show, Paxton said his campaign had worried Trump might endorse Cornyn, adding that they wanted to highlight what he described as the issue: “the Senate with John Cornyn doesn’t accomplish anything.”
Cornyn remained in the race after Trump’s endorsement, and his campaign saw nearly $150,000 in contributions the next day, including from donors with histories of giving to Democrats, Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, and the Never Trump Lincoln Project.
On Election Day, Cornyn’s official senator account reposted leftist content creator Olivia Julianna who wrote, “Nobody does Texas politics better than Scott.” Julianna’s post shared a post from Scott Braddock of Quorum Report, who wrote, “It’s BS: The idea that Sen @JohnCornyn has been disloyal to President Trump is completely made up. @brikeilarcnn and I talked about the GOP US Senate runoff in Texas on @cnn tonight.” Julianna describes herself as “Gen Z’s liberal hot head.” Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow previously contrasted Julianna with the Democrat Party’s past reliance on major celebrity influence.
On Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends on Tuesday, Cornyn attempted to defend his record by saying “I’ve supported the president’s agenda the whole time that he’s been president. I’m proud of the fact that we confirmed hundreds of justices, including three new Supreme Court justices.” Cornyn also said he was “the whip or the chief vote counter during his first term” when Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and cited the Working Family Tax Cuts Act as another example of his claimed support for Trump’s agenda.
Trump’s endorsement of Paxton also fueled friction among Senate Republicans. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said on CNN that GOP lawmakers were upset Trump had gone after “respected senators,” including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), arguing that Cornyn had helped many senators with fundraising and that Trump’s endorsement of Paxton did not “play well” in the Senate or House.
The Senate left Washington until June without finishing a reconciliation bill, with Punchbowl News reporting that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), when asked whether Senate Republicans were responding to politics including Trump endorsements and snubs, said it was “hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in political atmosphere around us.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) criticized Paxton on CNN’s “State of the Union,” calling him “a failure” and saying Paxton “doesn’t deserve to be in the U.S. Senate,” while praising Cornyn as “one of the most powerful,” “one of the most influential,” and “one of the most patriotic” members he had served with, as well as “pro-Second Amendment,” “pro-limited government,” and “pro-America First.
Vice President JD Vance addressed Trump’s endorsement in comments to Breitbart News White House Correspondent Nick Gilbertson, saying Paxton had been there “for the country” and “for the president” when it counted. Vance said Trump’s endorsement “sends a message” that lawmakers “have got to serve the people” who sent them to Washington or risk being out of step with voters and the president.
This afternoon, James Barragán, anchor at Texas Capital Tonight, posted on X, “On CNN, @mkraju asked @JohnCornyn if he’d endorse @KenPaxtonTX if Paxton is the winner tonight: “I’ll support the ticket.”
Paxton will now face Talarico, a former teacher, state representative, and Presbyterian seminarian, in November. In a Breitbart News Saturday interview with host Matthew Boyle, Paxton argued that Texas is not ready for Talarico, saying, “we need to expose who this guy is,” adding, “I don’t think Texas is ready for him. Maybe California. His views are so radical.” Paxton also said that “once we highlight those messages,” he believes he can defeat Talarico in the fall. In a separate appearance on The Alex Marlow Show, Paxton said Talarico’s views are “so foreign” that he “would have a hard time winning California, let alone Texas.”
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