AUSTIN, Texas (Gray DC) – The closely-watched Texas U.S. Senate primary race ended on Wednesday with one Democratic nominee and a runoff for two Republican candidates.<\/p>\n
State Rep. James Talarico (D-TX) won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas early on Wednesday morning, while the Republican primary remains unsettled and will head to a May 26 runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n
Talarico\u2019s six-month primary campaign ended in victory over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.<\/p>\n
Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin, said Talarico\u2019s ability to generate attention could be a factor in the general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepresentative Talarico himself is very, very savvy when it comes to generating attention and generating earned media,\u201d Blank said. \u201cWhat really propelled him in many ways into the Senate race was his appearance on Joe Rogan\u2019s podcast. So he has the ability to turn these events into bigger moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico addressed supporters Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope and a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cornyn said Monday he does not think Talarico is suited to run for Senate in Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cJames Talarico, I call him Beto O\u2019Rourke 2.0. He\u2019s pretty smooth, pretty slick. The media seems to love him. But he is a very strange character,\u201d said Sen. Cornyn. \u201cI think he\u2019s running for the Senate in the wrong state. I think he should be running in California.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, President Trump posted on social media that he will make an endorsement in the Republican Senate primary soon. Trump also said he will ask the other candidate to drop out of the race.<\/p>\n
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