Texas Senate GOP Runoff: Cornyn vs. Paxton — Trump-Backed Challenger Races to Oust Incumbent
AUSTIN, Texas — May 26, 2026
Texans voted Tuesday in a high-stakes Republican Senate primary runoff that pits a four-term incumbent backed
Incumbent Senator John Cornyn, the 72-year-old Senate Republican whip, faces challenger Ken Paxton, the state’s combative attorney general who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in a late February Truth Social post declaring the race a referendum on “the DC Swamp.”
With 98.9% of expected votes reported, the race remained too close to call as of midnight ET — a testament to the intensity of a contest that drew record GOP primary turnout in the nation’s largest red state.
Background: A Three-Way Split Becomes a Two-Man Show
Cornyn entered the March primary with the structural advantages of incumbency — money, establishment endorsements, and four decades of Texas political connections — but finished at just 41.9%, with Paxton at 40.7% and a third candidate, Wesley Hunt, at 13.5%. The proximity of that margin forced the runoff and underscored how Trump’s endorsement had reshaped the state’s Republican hierarchy.
Paxton’s campaign fused legal combat with political theater. He repeatedly sued the Biden administration, faced a 2015 indictment on securities fraud charges he has consistently denied, and survived a 2023 House impeachment trial that fractured the Texas GOP. Each battle deepened his following among grass-roots conservatives who view him as a martyr of the anti-establishment cause.
The Democratic Wildcard: Talarico’s Upset
The night’s clearest result came on the Democratic side, where 34-year-old state Representative James Talarico, a former public school teacher and rising progressive star, defeated eight-term Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett by a 52.4% to 46.2% margin. Talarico’s platform — Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and aggressive action on climate — signals a sharp leftward shift in Texas’s Democratic politics and gives national Democrats a fresh, compelling nominee in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1988.
What’s at Stake
The Cornyn-Paxton winner faces Talarico in November in a race that national Republicans had hoped to treat as an afterthought — but which now threatens to become a costly, nationally focused battle. Trump has made clear he wants Paxton in the Senate, and has told allies the Texas race is a proof-of-concept for his continued dominance over the GOP’s electoral machinery.
The Senate seat has been held by Republicans since 1988. A Paxton victory would send a convicted-but-never-prosecuted attorney general to Washington; a Cornyn win would preserve an institutionalist’s grip on the chamber’s inner workings — and would be read as a signal that Trump’s sway over GOP primaries has limits.
Key facts:
• Cornyn 41.9% — Paxton 40.7% — Hunt 13.5% in the March first round
• Trump endorsed Paxton via Truth Social, February 2026
• Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023; acquitted by the Senate
• Talarico won the Democratic primary with 52.4%, defeating Jasmine Crockett (46.2%)
• Texas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1988
“This is a fight for the soul of the Texas Republican Party. The old guard vs. the movement — and tonight, we find out which one still has the votes.” — Ken Paxton, campaign rally, Houston, May 24
Final, certified results from the Texas Secretary of State are expected Wednesday morning. Both campaigns held election night events in Austin, with Paxton’s team expressing quiet confidence and Cornyn’s warning that mail ballots could shift the margin.