Republicans in Texas began uniting behind a slate of hard-line candidates elected on Tuesday, looking beyond their bruising and protracted primaries and toward a November showdown against newly energized Democrats.<\/p>\n
They did so with President Trump\u2019s hand firmly on the controls of the party in the nation\u2019s most powerful conservative state.<\/p>\n
Ken Paxton\u2019s resounding victory in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate solidified Mr. Trump\u2019s iron grip. And candidates backed by Mr. Trump also won in U.S. House primaries around Houston<\/a> and San Antonio<\/a>, where the president\u2019s influence was pitted against that of state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n In choosing Mr. Paxton, and several other MAGA-aligned candidates, Republican primary voters in Texas made a familiar bet: that the state is conservative enough that any Republican, even the most conservative, can beat a Democrat in the fall, and keep the state red.<\/p>\n For some Republican consultants, Tuesday\u2019s results demonstrated the increasing power of the Trump-aligned, far right of the party, which has long battled the party\u2019s institutionalists<\/a> in Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe activist wing of the party flexes its muscles in the face of the establishment,\u201d Anthony Holm, a former consultant for Mr. Paxton, said in an interview at Mr. Paxton\u2019s election night watch party. He believed the party would come together quickly, \u201cbecause the alternative is James Talarico,\u201d Mr. Holm said, referring to the Democratic nominee for Senate.<\/p>\n For those like Senator John Cornyn, who was defeated by Mr. Paxton, the only choice now was to line up behind the ticket.<\/p>\n Democrats in Texas had hoped that the fractures would remain beyond the primary. But almost as soon as Mr. Cornyn conceded the race to Mr. Paxton, the state\u2019s attorney general, Republicans urged each other to come together. \u201cGovernor Abbott calls for unity after Republican runoff elections,\u201d read an email sent by the governor\u2019s campaign Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n \u201cA united Republican Party will drive victory,\u201d Mr. Abbott said in the accompanying statement.<\/p>\n Not known as a uniter, Mr. Paxton also jumped into the role immediately on Tuesday, thanking Mr. Cornyn for his decades in office and describing Texas as the key bulwark for conservative power.<\/p>\n \u201cThis campaign is not about red versus blue. It\u2019s about so much more,\u201d Mr. Paxton said from the stage of his victory party in Plano, Texas, on Tuesday night. \u201cIf Republicans lose this state, we lose the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Cornyn similarly expressed his desire to keep Texas red, though he didn\u2019t mention by name the man who beat him.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is to keep my party in power for generations,\u201d Mr. Cornyn said, addressing an Austin hotel meeting room filled with reporters but otherwise empty aside from his immediate family.<\/p>\n But after an expensive and, at times, deeply personal runoff, Republicans might have a difficult time finding their kumbaya moment.<\/p>\n In the Senate race, Mr. Paxton tore at Mr. Cornyn and the establishment wing of the party that he represents. Mr. Cornyn responded by drawing attention to his opponent\u2019s ongoing divorce \u2014 which has included allegations of adultery \u2014 and releasing ads featuring an AI-generated Mr. Paxton and two faceless women who were not his wife.<\/p>\n Republicans began late Tuesday trying to repair whatever divisions had emerged, largely by focusing on Mr. Talarico in a stream of social media posts and in at least one new campaign video. <\/p>\n And with the general election set, Mr. Talarico also began his attacks with a video that called Mr. Paxton \u201cthe most corrupt politician in America.\u201d<\/p>\n Primary elections in Texas are always rough-and-tumble affairs. Republicans, who have long controlled all levels of state government, treat the races as the only real fight in town \u2014 the place where the nastiest battles go down.<\/p>\n But this year\u2019s primaries differed in sheer scale: More than $128 million<\/a> was spent on advertising in the Senate race alone, with most supporting the ultimately doomed task of trying to save Mr. Cornyn. Millions more poured into the state attorney general race<\/a> in its final days.<\/p>\n Republican candidates also engaged in new forms of name-calling, occasionally blending their insults with the party\u2019s recent embrace of anti-Muslim rhetoric<\/a>.<\/p>\n