Texas Attorney General Paxton routs veteran incumbent Cornyn in U.S. Senate primary

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton easily defeated Sen. John Cornyn in a Republican primary runoff Tuesday night.

While the result had been expected for weeks, it marks a resounding defeat for an outgoing president who served in Congress for 23 years, including 12 years as a high-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership.

The bruising contest set the record for the costliest Senate primary campaign in U.S. history.

It also sets up what will be a closely watched contest in the November general election between Paxton and his Democratic opponent, state lawmaker James Talarico.

The outcome of this race will help determine whether Democrats can regain control of the U.S. Senate for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Many Democrats view Paxton as the weaker of the two candidates and welcome what they believe is an opportunity to flip a Senate seat in a state with a long history of electing Republicans.

Apparently confident in his imminent primary victory, Paxton, 62, has already begun turning his attention to his general election, airing television ads over the past week attacking his opponent as a left-wing extremist.

Polls indicate a tight race in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.

It’s been 46 years since at least two incumbent senators were ousted by voters of their own party in the same election cycle. Just 10 days ago, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy failed to even reach the runoff in his party’s primary, finishing behind two Republican challengers — the political equivalent of lightning striking the same place twice.

Cornyn and Cassidy ran against candidates backed by President Donald Trump. But that’s where the similarities largely end.

Unlike Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump during his 2021 Senate impeachment trial, Cornyn was a party loyalist who touted his ties to the president. Although he was slow to endorse Trump’s 2024 re-election bid, he faithfully toed the Republican line throughout his tenure in the Senate.

In the first round of voting in March, he finished slightly ahead of Paxton, 42.5 percent to 40.8 percent, but short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

The day after that vote, it appeared that Trump might support Cornyn — a popular figure among Senate Republicans because of his prolific fundraising and previous leadership in the House.

However, this approval never came. Paxton, although beset by personal and political scandals over the years, was a favorite of Trump’s populist base in Texas. He campaigned against Cornyn, 74, calling him too old, too timid, too aligned with the political establishment and too out of touch with Texas conservatives.

Last week, after it appeared increasingly likely that Paxton would beat Cornyn despite being outscored by a 9-to-1 margin, Trump endorsed the challenger. Trump accused Cornyn of being “very disloyal” to him on social media, arguing that he did not fight hard enough to save Trump’s voting reform legislation.

Paxton’s victory could be seen as another example of the strength of Trump’s support. Trump saw several Republicans he supported defeat his critics in the primaries, including Cassidy in Louisiana and Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky.

But as of Tuesday night, the timing suggests Trump is following his base — which, at least in Texas, is still hungry for firebrand populist conservatives and wary of longtime Washington politicians.

If Cassidy’s loss showed that Trump can still influence Republican voters, the Texas game suggests that the impulses that motivate Trump’s base can sometimes be bigger than — and distinct from — him.

While the Republican Senate runoff was the marquee matchup in Texas, several notable contests were also on the ballot.

In the race for the Republican nomination to replace Paxton as attorney general, Congressman Chip Roy — a small-government conservative who has at times drawn Trump’s ire for voting against his party in the House — was defeated by state Sen. Mayes Middleton.

However, unlike the Senate primary, Trump has not offered his support – although he has requested that Roy be challenged for his congressional seat in 2023.

However, Trump’s supporting power was evident further in the Republican side of the ballot. In the solidly conservative 9th District, Trump-backed Army veteran Alex Mealer defeated state Rep. Briscoe Cain, who had been endorsed by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. And in the 35th, Trump’s Carlos De La Cruz beat Abbott’s John Lujan.

In the runoff for the Democratic nomination in the 35th House district, which extends southeast of suburban San Antonio, Sheriff’s Deputy Johnny Garcia defeated sex therapist Maureen Galindo.

Galindo, a little-known candidate, had finished slightly ahead in the March poll, but she became a source of national controversy for suggesting that American Zionists should be held in immigration detention camps.

Galindo, whose campaign appears to have been financed in part by a group affiliated with conservatives, has been condemned by Democrats across the party’s political spectrum. Two House Democrats, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moscowitz of Florida, have said they would force daily votes to expel her from Congress if she is elected.

With Garcia’s victory, Democrats avoided nominating a controversial candidate in a congressional district that, while leaning toward Republicans, could be won by their party.

Several other Democratic runoffs pitted current and former members of Congress against each other — a reflection of the scramble created after the Republican-controlled state Legislature redrew congressional lines last year to secure more House seats for their party.

In the 18th District in central Houston, 38-year-old one-term congressman Christian Menefee defeated 78-year-old Al Green, who had served in the House since 2005.

Green has built a reputation as a liberal firebrand. He was excluded from Trump’s last two speeches to Congress for protesting and has regularly introduced articles of impeachment against Republican presidents.

Green was targeted by Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-backed group, which spent about $6 million to oust the longtime congressman, who had criticized the industry.

In the 33rd District, near Dallas, former Congressman Colin Allred – the Democratic candidate for Senate in 2024 – defeated current Congresswoman Julie Johnson.

It was a revenge measure for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who was defeated by Talarico for the Democratic Senate nomination in March. She had supported Allred, while Johnson was Talarico’s choice.

Democrats may be encouraged by Paxton’s victory, believing his past scandals make him a more vulnerable opponent than the deep-pocketed Cornyn. But given that Texas has long been considered reliable Republican territory, they will need to come together quickly if Talarico hopes to win in November.

Madeline Halpert contributed to this report.