It’s official. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is the Republican nominee for Senate after defeating incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday’s runoff election.
The runoff kicked off after no Republican candidate managed to win over 50 percent of the vote in March’s election.
Both campaigns spent the final full day before the runoff flooding the airwaves with their appeals to voters instead of holding public events, according to The Associated Press.
The race appeared to have been decided on May 19 after President Donald Trump endorsed the attorney general, giving him a late boost before the runoff. Up to that point, the president had given no indication as to which candidate he might support. But in a post on Truth Social, Trump explained that Cornyn had been slow to sign on to the president’s agenda, which cost him the endorsement.
Paxton and Cornyn have been going scorched earth on each other since the runoff campaign began. Cornyn and his allies outspent his opponent as each lobbed attacks at each other. Some Republicans expressed concerns that the battle might cause further division on the right.
🚨 BREAKING: This reporter is blown away by how bad Ken Paxton is CRUSHING John Cornyn already
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) May 27, 2026
TEXAS IS MAGA COUNTRY 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EMqQ9ILYQF
Paxton was highly favored among the Republican MAGA base due to his vociferous support of President Trump and his policies. Under the Biden administration, the attorney general made a name for himself by lodging a series of lawsuits against the White House over the former president’s policies — especially when it pertained to immigration.
On the other hand, Cornyn is largely viewed among Republican voters as a member of the old guard establishment, despite his support for Trump’s policies. This election, like several others, reveals that the Trump populist wing of the party is gaining more power as the establishment tries to maintain a semblance of relevancy.
Now that Paxton is the nominee, he will face off against state Rep. James Talarico, who has cultivated an active following of supporters. A Texas Public Opinion Research survey showed Talarico leading Paxton 46 to 41 percent, with nine percent undecided.
However, other polls suggest the race will be a close one. Still, Democrats remain buoyed by the numbers, believing it is their opportunity to take a seat in a state that has not elected a Democratic senator since 1988.
It’s also worth noting that Talarico’s bizarre past comments on Christianity, sexuality, and gender ideology have been coming back to haunt him. Over his political career, he has made a series of ridiculous statements about God being nonbinary and the story of the Virgin Mary affirming biblical support for abortion.
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