![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6UFJQAX5DNFLDEJYDWYC2UBJRI.jpg\")
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.(LM Otero | AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\nPLANO, Texas (AP) \u2014 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn.<\/p>\n
Paxton was endorsed by President Donald Trump last week. His victory in Tuesday\u2019s runoff makes Cornyn the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party\u2019s nomination for reelection.<\/p>\n
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.(LM Otero | AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n
Trump endorsed Paxton as part of his effort to dislodge GOP officeholders he views as less than devout in their support of him. Cornyn said in 2023 as Trump was running to return to the White House that his time \u201chas passed him by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cornyn led Paxton in the March 3 primary but did not receive a majority of the vote, forcing Tuesday\u2019s runoff.<\/p>\n
Cornyn\u2019s campaign and allied groups spent roughly $109 million on advertising for the primary and runoff. He had the backing of Senate GOP leaders who said he would be the stronger general election candidate.<\/p>\n
Paxton will run against state Rep. James Talarico in November.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees<\/a> for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.<\/p>\n The primary has been long and costly Cornyn led Paxton in the March primary<\/a> but failed to win a majority. That was after Cornyn and his supporters waged a monthslong ad campaign, mostly attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions. The two-term attorney general was acquitted on corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial<\/a>, where allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Paxton\u2019s wife filed for divorce last year, citing \u201cbiblical grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n The alliance of pro-Cornyn groups has continued its attack, outspending Paxton\u2019s campaign and two allied super PACs $16.5 million to $5.9 million since March 3, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.<\/p>\n Trump promised to endorse immediately after the primary but didn\u2019t act until after early voting began last week.<\/p>\n \u201cKen Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to win,\u201d Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him.<\/p>\n David Jacobson, a retired 70-year-old Dallas-area resident, said Trump\u2019s endorsement was a factor in his decision to back Paxton on Tuesday. While Cornyn has for the most part been a strong Trump supporter, Jacobson generally thinks most politicians have remained in office too long.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s time for a change,\u201d he said after voting near Dallas.<\/p>\n Linda Williams said she voted for Cornyn, calling him \u201cthe lesser of two evils.\u201d She thinks Cornyn has a better chance to beat Talarico this fall.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause Paxton is a crook,\u201d Williams said after voting in Plano, outside Dallas.<\/p>\n Trump snubs Cornyn amid retribution campaign<\/p>\n Trump, in his endorsement, poked at Cornyn, saying he \u201cwas not supportive of me when times were tough\u201d and that \u201cJohn was very late in backing me.\u201d<\/p>\n Cornyn suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his \u201ctime has passed him by.\u201d He also was an early critic of Trump\u2019s plan for a border wall<\/a> between the U.S. and Mexico \u2014 a project he now supports.<\/p>\n Cornyn said Tuesday on Fox News Radio\u2019s \u201cThe Brian Kilmeade Show\u201d that the president\u2019s ire was misplaced. There are \u201cgrifters,\u201d he said, \u201dclaiming that I am opposed to the president\u2019s agenda, and I think that\u2019s caused some confusion with the president himself. But I\u2019ve been supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n Some GOP strategists have argued that a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority. Cornyn has the support of Senate GOP leaders.<\/p>\n Democrats also will choose US House nominees<\/p>\n Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee<\/a> defeated veteran Rep. Al Green in Texas\u2019 18th District, dispatching a longtime House incumbent who was one of Trump\u2019s most outspoken critics. The Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew the district when it approved a new House map last year. The new map led to a runoff between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections<\/a> in the Houston area.<\/p>\n Former Rep. Colin Allred and U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are competing in the Dallas-area 33rd District. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid<\/a> and instead is looking to return to the House.<\/p>\n![\"Sen.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/U2LBJKJ42VAH5ON74TJHWU2JNM.jpg\")
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, listens to State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a campaign event in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.(Annie Rice | AP Photo\/Annie Rice)<\/p>\n