U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who hadn\u2019t previously endorsed in the race, said that Paxton has his \u201cfull support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKen is a fearless conservative who spent years taking on Texas\u2019s toughest battles as Attorney General and has proven that he will always fight for and defend the Lone Star State,\u201d Cruz said in a statement. \u201cHe will continue that fight in the U.S. Senate, and I look forward to fighting alongside him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He thanked Cornyn for his service, adding, \u201cit\u2019s time to unite to make sure that Texas stays Texas. James Talarico is radical, dangerous, and does not represent the values, ideas, or principles of the Lone Star State.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paxton, who has served three terms as the state’s attorney general, bested Cornyn, who has served in the U.S. Senate for 24 years. He will go on to face Democrat James Talarico, and Austin state representative,\u00a0in the November election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a post on X, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who also hadn\u2019t previously weighed in, congratulated Paxton <\/a>\u201con the resounding victory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, blasted Paxton during the primary, but quickly pivoted to express his support<\/a> Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe Republicans must quickly heal and unite from these bruising primaries \u2014 and I promise to do my part to help make that happen,\u201d he posted on X, promising to support every Republican on the ticket. \u201cThe Texas we know and love is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats celebrated Paxton’s win, too, seeing him as the weaker candidate to go up against\u00a0Talarico in November.<\/p>\n \u201cKen Paxton has spent decades in office abusing his power to serve special interests and enrich himself at Texans\u2019 expense \u2013 and in November, we\u2019re going to put a stop to his corruption,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n