Texas Runoff Pits Cornyn Against Trump-Backed Paxton

Texas Republican voters decide Tuesday whether four-term Sen. John Cornyn keeps his seat or yields to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump one week earlier. The outcome will shape the party's Senate majority defense and test how far Trump's influence reaches inside the GOP. Cornyn received 42 percent in the March primary to Paxton's 40.5 percent; neither reached a majority, forcing the runoff. Trump described Paxton as a "true MAGA warrior" and faulted Cornyn for insufficient support during earlier presidential campaigns. Senate Republicans have spent roughly $90 million backing Cornyn since the first round, according to AdImpact, while warning that a Paxton nomination would require hundreds of millions more in the general election against Democratic nominee state Rep. James Talarico. Paxton has faced a 2023 impeachment by the Texas House on bribery and abuse-of-office charges, later acquitted by the state Senate, plus a pending divorce filing by his wife on biblical grounds. Cornyn has highlighted his record of raising more than $414 million for Republican candidates and his consistent support for Trump-backed legislation once in office. Public polling has favored Paxton in the runoff, though turnout is expected to fall from the March primary. The same ballot includes runoffs for Texas attorney general, where Rep. Chip Roy faces state Sen. Mayes Middleton, and several U.S. House contests altered by recent redistricting. A Democrat has not won statewide office in Texas since 1994.