Trump-backed Ken Paxton wins Texas GOP Senate primary runoff over John Cornyn

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

PLANO, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the latest contest where President Donald Trump sought to defeat an incumbent he saw as not sufficiently loyal.

Trump endorsed Paxton last week. Paxton's victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.

Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton's election night party when the race was called, as Van Halen’s “Jump” played and the stage filled with supporters holding Paxton campaign signs.

Cornyn’s campaign and allied groups spent roughly $109 million on advertising for the March 3 primary and Tuesday's runoff. He had the backing of Senate GOP leaders who said he would be the stronger general election candidate.

But Trump endorsed Paxton as part of his effort to dislodge GOP officeholders he views as less than devout in their support of him. Cornyn said in 2023 as Trump was running to return to the White House that his time “has passed him by.”

Paxton will run against state Rep. James Talarico in November.

Tuesday's runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.

The primary has been long and costly

Cornyn led Paxton in the March primary but failed to win a majority. That was after Cornyn and his supporters waged a monthslong ad campaign, mostly attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions. The two-term attorney general was acquitted on corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial, where allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.”

The alliance of pro-Cornyn groups has continued its attack, outspending Paxton's campaign and two allied super PACs $16.5 million to $5.9 million since March 3, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Trump promised to endorse immediately after the primary but didn’t act until after early voting began last week.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him.

David Jacobson, a retired 70-year-old Dallas-area resident, said Trump's endorsement was a factor in his decision to back Paxton on Tuesday. While Cornyn has for the most part been a strong Trump supporter, Jacobson generally thinks most politicians have remained in office too long.

“Maybe it’s time for a change,” he said after voting near Dallas.

Linda Williams said she voted for Cornyn, calling him “the lesser of two evils.” She thinks Cornyn has a better chance to beat Talarico this fall.

“Because Paxton is a crook," Williams said after voting in Plano, outside Dallas.

Trump snubs Cornyn amid retribution campaign

Trump, in his endorsement, poked at Cornyn, saying he “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”

Cornyn suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his “time has passed him by.” He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.

Cornyn said Tuesday on Fox News Radio's “The Brian Kilmeade Show” that the president's ire was misplaced. There are “grifters," he said, "claiming that I am opposed to the president's agenda, and I think that’s caused some confusion with the president himself. But I’ve been supportive.”

Some GOP strategists have argued that a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority. Cornyn has the support of Senate GOP leaders.

Democrats also will choose US House nominees

Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee defeated veteran Rep. Al Green in Texas' 18th District, dispatching a longtime House incumbent who was one of Trump's most outspoken critics. The Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew the district when it approved a new House map last year. The new map led to a runoff between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area.

Former Rep. Colin Allred and U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are competing in the Dallas-area 33rd District. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead is looking to return to the House.

Near San Antonio, Democratic leaders are trying to prevent Maureen Galindo, who has expressed antisemitic views, from winning the party's runoff with Johnny Garcia. While Texas lawmakers redrew the 35th District to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and don't want Galindo's past comments to impede them.

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This story has been corrected to show that voter David Jacobson is 70, not 71.

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Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle contributed from Sasche, Texas.

Thomas Beaumont And Jesse Bedayn, The Associated Press