{"id":310524,"date":"2026-05-27T09:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/310524\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T09:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:26:08","slug":"ken-paxton-wins-texas-primary-election-results-and-key-takeaways-us-midterm-elections-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/310524\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Paxton wins Texas primary election: Results and key takeaways | US Midterm Elections 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination<\/a> for the United States Senate on Tuesday, defeating four-term Senator John Cornyn.<\/p>\n

According to results reported by The Associated Press news agency, Paxton won with about 64 percent of the vote, while Cornyn received about 36 percent, a margin of roughly 28 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 2 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a \u201ctrue MAGA warrior\u201d. The loss makes Cornyn, first elected in 2002, the first-ever Republican senator from Texas to lose his party\u2019s nomination for re-election.<\/p>\n

Here is what we know:<\/p>\n

Paxton calls Trump endorsement \u2018most powerful force in politics\u2019<\/p>\n

Paxton\u2019s victory added to a growing list of Trump-backed primary wins before the 2026 midterms.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cornyn, who served in the Senate for more than 20 years and was once part of the Republican leadership in Congress, is widely regarded as a traditional establishment<\/a> Republican. Despite support from chief donors and senior party figures, he struggled to win over Trump\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n

For months, Cornyn tried to show he supported Trump and his agenda. He highlighted his voting record with Trump, backed parts of Trump\u2019s immigration plans and changed his position on some Senate rules to support voting restrictions backed by the president.<\/p>\n

But Trump continued to criticise Cornyn, accusing him of being \u201cvery disloyal\u201d after the senator questioned Trump\u2019s political future in 2023 and waited months before endorsing his 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s endorsement of Paxton last week changed the race and helped make Cornyn the latest Republican incumbent to lose to a Trump-backed challenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight, we\u2019ve come up short,\u201d Cornyn told supporters after the race was called, while promising to continue supporting Republican candidates.<\/p>\n

The defeat makes Cornyn the first Republican senator from Texas to lose a primary while seeking re-election, a result likely to end his Senate career.<\/p>\n

Paxton celebrated the victory and called Trump\u2019s endorsement \u201cthe most powerful force in politics\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Texas race follows other recent defeats of Republican incumbents opposed by Trump, including Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans, however, worry Paxton could struggle in the November midterm elections because of a series of scandals and legal controversies that have followed him for years, including corruption allegations, impeachment proceedings and securities fraud charges. Paxton was impeached in 2023 over accusations that he abused his office to benefit a donor. However, the Texas Senate acquitted him, allowing him to return to office.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Republicans believe that this win will actually give Donald Trump a headache,\u201d said Al Jazeera\u2019s Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, DC. \u201cThat Paxton is too tainted, too extreme to connect with ordinary Texas voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxton will now face Democratic state Representative James Talarico, whose campaign has focused on centrist and independent voters.<\/p>\n

Democrats see chance to make Texas Senate race competitive<\/p>\n

Democrats are hoping Paxton\u2019s nomination could turn Texas<\/a> into a more competitive battleground in November, despite the state\u2019s long Republican streak in Senate races.<\/p>\n

Talarico has sought to present himself as a centrist alternative, focusing his campaign on corruption, public education and economic issues.<\/p>\n

Democrats also point to demographic changes across Texas, including growth among Hispanic, Asian and multiracial communities, as a sign the state is becoming more politically competitive.<\/p>\n

The Cook Political Report recently shifted Texas from \u201clikely Republican\u201d to \u201clean Republican\u201d, reflecting expectations of a closer race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a shadow of a doubt, I will be the Democrats\u2019 number one target in November,\u201d Paxton said after winning the race.<\/p>\n

The candidate also predicted that Talarico is \u201cgoing to raise more money than any Democrat in America\u201d, and urged his followers to donate to his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Republicans lose this state, we lose the country,\u201d Paxton warned.<\/p>\n

Within minutes of Paxton being declared the winner of the Republican primary run-off for the US Senate, Talarico called him \u201cthe most corrupt politician in America\u201d in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe embodies the broken system we\u2019re running against,\u201d Talarico wrote on X.<\/p>\n

In another post, he invited Cornyn\u2019s supporters to vote for him. \u201cYou have a place in our campaign,\u201d Talarico wrote.<\/p>\n

\"KenKen Paxton and James Talarico [Reuters]Veteran Democrat Al Green loses primary to younger challenger<\/p>\n

Longtime Democratic Congressman Al Green has lost his primary run-off to younger challenger Christian Menefee, marking a key generational shift in one of Texas\u2019s safest Democratic districts.<\/p>\n

Menefee will now begin his fourth election campaign in roughly seven months. He first entered the race in a November 2025 special election to replace former Representative Sylvester Turner, who died earlier that year. The contest advanced to a January run-off, which Menefee won before being sworn into Congress.<\/p>\n

Menefee then launched a bid for a full term in the March 3 Democratic primary, emerging from a crowded field to face veteran Congressman Al Green in Tuesday\u2019s run-off.<\/p>\n

With the victory, Menefee is expected to head into November\u2019s general election as the strong favourite in the heavily Democratic district.<\/p>\n

The race also drew national attention because of heavy spending by Fairshake, a pro-cryptocurrency super PAC that backed Menefee and targeted Green over his opposition to parts of the crypto industry\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

Fairshake spent millions of dollars on the run-off, with Fairshake spokesperson Geoff Vetter arguing the group had been \u201cthe difference-maker\u201d in the contest.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis combination of file images shows Representative Al Green, D-Texas, in Washington, left, and Representative Christian Menefee, D-Texas, in Houston [Cliff Owen\/Ashley Landis\/AP]Colin Allred is set to return to his former House seat<\/p>\n

Former US Representative Colin Allred won a closely watched Democratic primary run-off on Tuesday, putting him on track to return to Congress after losing his 2024 Senate race against Republican Senator Ted Cruz.<\/p>\n

Allred left the House in 2024 to challenge Cruz in one of the country\u2019s biggest Senate races, but Democrats failed to flip the seat.<\/p>\n

He later prepared for another Senate run before dropping out after fellow Democrat Jasmine Crockett entered the race. Instead, Allred decided to run again for the North Texas congressional seat he had held for six years.<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s run-off, Allred defeated Representative Julie Johnson, who had won the seat after he stepped down to run for Senate.<\/p>\n

The race became one of the state\u2019s most bitter Democratic contests, with both candidates attacking each other over money, ethics and personal wealth.<\/p>\n

Allred criticised Johnson over stock trades she made while in office, including investments linked to Palantir Technologies, a data company with ties to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Johnson, meanwhile, accused Allred of being \u201conly out for himself\u201d and attacked his personal wealth.<\/p>\n

The race also exposed divisions among Democrats over money and influence in politics.<\/p>\n

Democrats back Johnny Garcia after bitter Texas run-off<\/p>\n

Garcia defeated Maureen Galindo in the Democratic primary run-off for Texas\u2019s 35th congressional district near San Antonio, after national Democrats strongly intervened in the race.<\/p>\n

Democratic leaders had worked to stop Galindo from winning the nomination because of comments widely condemned as anti-Semitic. Galindo had posted remarks about \u201cAmerican Zionists\u201d, repeated conspiracy theories about Jewish influence in politics and media, and referred to Jews as the \u201csynagogue of Satan\u201d, according to local media reports.<\/p>\n

Senior Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Representative Suzan DelBene, publicly opposed Galindo\u2019s candidacy. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Galindo\u2019s comments \u201cdisgusting\u201d and said they had \u201cno place\u201d in Democratic politics.<\/p>\n

The race gained national attention because Republicans recently redrew the district in a way aimed at helping their party win more seats. Democrats still believe the district could remain competitive in November, but feared Galindo\u2019s comments would hurt their chances in the general election.<\/p>\n

After Garcia\u2019s victory, the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC accused Republicans of secretly helping Galindo\u2019s campaign through outside groups in an effort to weaken Democrats before November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate on Tuesday, defeating four-term…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[145,288,8886,223,287,27,29,28,464,100172],"class_list":["post-310524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-explainer","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-united-states","tag-us-midterm-elections-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}