President Donald Trump won a major victory in Texas on Tuesday, ousting a Republican incumbent senator he considers “very disloyal” in favor of an opponent he personally endorsed. In a highly watched runoff election for the Republican Senate nomination, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn with 63.8% of votes.
Paxton gained Trump’s vocal support in the week before the runoff election, which happened because neither Republican candidate won a majority of votes in the primary – the most expensive one in American history. Cornyn was elected to the Senate in 2002 and becomes the first sitting Republican senator from Texas to lose a primary, according to The Associated Press.
Cornyn’s defeat is the latest in a string of losses for Republican incumbents – in Louisiana, Indiana and Kentucky – who fell victim to Trump’s public smearing and were unseated in intraparty challenges from Trump-endorsed candidates.
Among Trump’s issues with Cornyn were the senator’s 2023 comment that Trump’s time “has passed him by” – referring to the president’s run for reelection – and previous criticism of Trump’s plan for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Democrats for years have hoped that shifting demographics would yield more favorable results in Texas, only to fall short on Election Day. Their losing streak in statewide elections now extends more than 30 years.
But the president’s victory in the primary could be short-lived. While most of Trump’s picks for Republican nominations are expected to easily best their Democratic opponents in November, Texas’ Senate race will be more of a toss-up. Democrats prefer to face the hard-line Paxton, whom Trump has described as a “true MAGA Warrior,” over the more moderate incumbent Cornyn. And they are also optimistic about their own nominee, state Rep. James Talarico – especially given Paxton’s past scandals.
Paxton was indicted on felony securities fraud charges in 2015, accused of bribery and infidelity in 2018, reported to the FBI for abusing his power in 2020 and impeached by the GOP-led Texas House for corruption in 2023, though he was not convicted in the Senate.
Talarico said he hopes to use Paxton’s contentious reputation to convert Cornyn supporters and secure their votes in the midterm election.
“I have a legislative record that I think has a lot to offer supporters of Sen. Cornyn. Ken Paxton has a criminal record,” Talarico told Politico after the election results came out Tuesday night.
In a historic Texas runoff election for a newly redrawn Houston-area seat that pitted two sitting Democratic House members against each other, Rep. Christian Menefee won the Democratic nomination for the 18th District by defeating Rep. Al Green, who is 40 years his senior and was running for a 12th term.
Other Democratic wins for House nominations include former Rep. Colin Allred’s victory against incumbent Rep. Julie Johnson in the Dallas-area 33rd District and public information officer Johnny Garcia’s defeat of sex therapist Maureen Galindo – who was condemned for antisemitic comments – in the San Antonio-area’s 35th District.
While political analysts do not include Texas in their list of states most likely to flip Senate seats and help the party regain control of the chamber – a list that includes seats in Alaska, North Carolina, Maine and Ohio – Democrats do appear to be gaining momentum in the state heading into the midterm election season.