(KXII) – Neither Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, nor Incumbent, John Cornyn, secured the votes needed to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s primary, sending the race to a runoff at the end of May.
Texas House of Representative, James Talarico, claimed the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, defeating Congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett, in their party’s primary contest.
Republican race heads to runoff
On the Republican side, Paxton, Cornyn, and Wesley Hunt all competed for the nomination. Paxton and Cornyn emerged as the top two finishers, but neither cleared the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff.
“If a race doesn’t produce a winner it goes to a runoff,” said Dr. Nate Bigelow, a political science professor at Austin College.
Bigelow said the outcome was not unexpected.
“In the lead up to the election the polls had them pretty evenly divided and that’s the way that it ended up working out,” Bigelow said.
Two candidates, two wings of the party
Bigelow said the two Republican candidates represent distinct factions within the party.
“John Cornyn is running for this fifth term as a U.S. senator and he represents a strong institutional conservatism,” Bigelow said.
Paxton, the Texas attorney general, “represents a faction of the party that maybe views that this institution hasn’t served people as well,” Bigelow said.
Trump endorsement, record spending
President Trump said he will soon endorse one candidate and ask the other to step down. Bigelow said a Trump endorsement could help the eventual nominee shift focus — and resources — to the general election.
“It would also allow them to spend less money. This race has already been tremendously expensive,” Bigelow said.
The race has already seen approximately $110 million spent, making it the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history.
“Of course if it goes to a runoff we just have to keep adding that up,” Bigelow said.
Democrats set voting records
Sources said Democrats broke voting records in the primary, producing approximately 2 million votes — roughly equal to Republican turnout.
“The fact that Democrats turned out in equal proportion to the Republicans in the state of Texas says they’re enthusiastic about this race,” Bigelow said.
Copyright 2026 KXII. All rights reserved.