Paxton pushes Cornyn out of longtime U.S. Senate seat

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday ousted four-term incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn during a night of major upsets and a race that got national attention.

Paxton won the long anticipated Republican runoff for the Senate despite Cornyn, a former Senate Republican whip, getting endorsements from the majority of law enforcement, faith-based groups and conservatives.

After early voting started last week, President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton, aided by a flurry of posts in support made by paid social media influencers appealing to the far right. Primary and runoff elections normally have low voter turnout, as was the case in the March 3 primary, although Democrats outvoted Republicans by large margins, The Center Square reported.

Paxton won the U.S. Senate race, receiving more than 60% of the vote, according to unofficial results published by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office with more than 60% of votes counted.

In the Republican runoff election for attorney general, state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, defeated U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, with 55% of the vote. Middleton has been ahead in the polls throughout the race.

In the Democratic race for attorney general, Middleton’s Texas Senate colleague, Nathan Johnson, won by more than 20 points, defeating former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski, according to the unofficial results.

In key Democratic races, state Sen. Vikki Goodwin won her race for lieutenant governor and will be challenging Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, in November.

In Texas’ 18th Congressional District race, U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, who won a special election, ran against incumbent U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Democrat who was redistricted, and won. Menefee declared victory not soon after the polls closed.

Other congressional races called within less than two hours of polls closing were Democrats Yolanda Prince in Congressional District 1 and Kevin Burge in Congressional District 24 and Republicans Tom Sell in Congressional District 19, Alexander Hale in Congressional District 7 and Alex Mealer in Congressional District 9 — all newly redistricted districts.

Other races appear to be too close to call.

The Texas Democratic Party reported ballot irregularities in Fort Bend County and issued a statement denouncing Paxton’s win.

Paxton, who was the only attorney general to be impeached in Texas history in 2023, “spent decades in office abusing his power to serve special interests and enrich himself at Texans’ expense – and in November, we’re going to put a stop to his corruption,” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said in an emailed statement. “As Attorney General, Paxton traded favors with lobbyists and his wealthy donors so shamelessly that even his own party tried to remove him from office for alleged bribery and abuse of his position.”

The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton of all charges, largely along party lines.

“We are sick and tired of this kind of corruption from self-serving politicians – and that’s why voters are going to elect James Talarico in November to represent all Texans, not just the rich and powerful,” Scudder said.

Talarico, a Democrat, earlier this year broke all fundraising records for any U.S. Senate candidate in U.S. history, The Center Square reported.