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<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Texas voters on Tuesday voted to oust Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), handing the longtime incumbent a devastating defeat and delivering a sharp rebuke to the Republican establishment in Washington.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Decision Desk HQ called the race for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at 8 p.m. central time with Paxton leading Cornyn by 25 points, with roughly 57% of the vote counted.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Paxton&#8217;s landslide victory deals a major blow to the Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who repeatedly urged Trump to back Cornyn, a four-term senator and longtime fixture in GOP leadership. Cornyn previously chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee and served as Senate Majority Whip. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“Sen. Cornyn is a principled conservative. He is a very effective senator for the state of Texas, but none of us control what the president does,” Thune said of Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement. “That doesn’t change the way I feel.”</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Q: &#8220;How personally disappointed or frustrated are you with the president&#8217;s decision to endorse Ken Paxton today?&#8221;</p>
<p>.<a href="https://twitter.com/LeaderJohnThune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeaderJohnThune</a>: &#8220;Sen. Cornyn is a principled conservative. He is a very effective senator for the state of Texas…None of us control what the president does.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/5QglYxRp1V">pic.twitter.com/5QglYxRp1V</a></p>
<p>— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2056805960895590901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2026</a></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Cornyn is the latest incumbent – and second senator to fall – amid Trump’s campaign to purge Republicans he views as disloyal to his agenda. In recent weeks, the Trump endorsement has led to losses by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and a handful of Indiana Republicans who bucked the president’s redistricting effort.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Paxton has emerged as a fierce MAGA firebrand on a range of issues, using his office to protect </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-texas-ag-investigating-school-officials-who-said-theyd-break-the-law?row=0&;elementPosition=3&;rowType=Vertical+List&;author=Tim+Rice&;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Texas+AG+Launches+Probe+Into+Schools+Scheming+To+Get+Boys+Onto+Girl+Sports+Teams&;category=News"><span style="font-weight: 400">women’s sports,</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> defending Texas A&;M’s </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-texas-ag-to-defend-texas-am-over-decision-to-ban-campus-drag-shows?row=0&;elementPosition=undefined&;rowType=Vertical+List&;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Texas+AG+To+Defend+Texas+A%26M+Over+Decision+To+Ban+Campus+Drag+Shows&;category=News"><span style="font-weight: 400">decision</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> to ban a campus drag show, and </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-arrests-48-year-old-woman-for-performing-illegal-abortions-operating-fake-clinics?row=0&;elementPosition=undefined&;rowType=Vertical+List&;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&;title=Texas+Arrests+48-Year-Old+Woman+For+Performing+Illegal+Abortions%2C+Operating+Fake+Clinics&;category=News"><span style="font-weight: 400">prosecuting</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> a woman who performed illegal abortions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">With all eyes on Texas, </span><span style="font-weight: 400">Trump ended months of suspense last Tuesday and threw his political clout behind Paxton. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” </span><span style="font-weight: 400">Trump said on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116602192066577324">Truth Social</a>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough…” he added.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">On the campaign trail, Paxton seized the moment. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“I am so honored to have President Trump’s endorsement,” Paxton said. “When he endorses, it has a tremendous impact…I think it creates a slight bit of momentum, don’t you?”</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Texas AG &; U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton (R) speaks after receiving President Trump&#8217;s endorsement: &#8220;When he endorses, it has a tremendous impact…I think it creates a slight bit of momentum, don&#8217;t you?&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/cGFSrteLV4">pic.twitter.com/cGFSrteLV4</a></p>
<p>— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2056783591925842382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2026</a></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400">When neither Paxton nor Cornyn surpassed the 50% threshold in the initial vote — triggering a runoff — both campaigns stepped up an intense jockeying for Trump’s support.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Paxton raised eyebrows for <a href="https://x.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/2029607496395239546?s=20">saying</a> he would consider dropping out of the race if the Senate passed the SAVE America Act.</span></p>
<p>&#8220;John Cornyn is a coward who has refused to support abolishing the filibuster to pass this bill,&#8221; Paxton said.</p>
<p><a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/11/opinion/sen-cornyn-why-the-save-act-matters-more-than-the-filibuster/"><span style="font-weight: 400">Cornyn wrote in a op-ed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> that he had previously backed the “60-vote threshold to protect the country,” but said that “when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The Senate’s failure to pass the SAVE America Act appeared to sway Trump.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER! Ken is a Strong Supporter of TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER and, very importantly, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, something which polls at 87%, including Dumocrats, and yet can’t seem to get approved,” Trump said in his Truth Social endorsement. “Perhaps Ken can help move these important elements of Government forward…”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Turning Point Action backed Paxton, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee spent millions supporting Cornyn.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Some party leaders worry Paxton — who was nearly convicted on </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-senate-votes-to-acquit-attorney-general-ken-paxton-of-all-charges"><span style="font-weight: 400">corruption-related impeachment charges</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> — could put a reliably Republican seat at risk. His wife filed for divorce in 2025, citing </span><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/angela-paxton-divorce-texas-attorney-general-ken/"><span style="font-weight: 400">adultery on &#8220;biblical grounds.&#8221;</span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">In November, Paxton will face off against Democratic candidate James Talarico, whom Trump recently ripped into as “weird.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“I’ll tell you what I do think — I think the Democrats have a weird, a weird candidate. Six genders, a real hit on Jesus,” </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-roasts-texas-democrat-over-six-genders-and-vegan-flip-flop"><span style="font-weight: 400">Trump told reporters on Air Force One.</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> “I mean, this guy is bad news with his mask from relatively recently, and he’s a vegan. He’s a vegan. All of a sudden, he’s not a vegan. He was a vegan, now all of a sudden he’s not.”</span></p>
<p>“Texas doesn’t like vegans. I do believe either one of them will easily win the race. I think the candidate the Democrats have in Texas is a very flawed, very weak, very — I think he’s a pathetic candidate, especially for Texas,” the president added.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">NEW AD:</p>
<p>Low T Talarico is too WEAK and WEIRD for Texas. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TXsen?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TXsen</a> <a href="https://t.co/B6wL7pto4S">pic.twitter.com/B6wL7pto4S</a></p>
<p>— Lone Star Liberty PAC (@LoneStar_PAC) <a href="https://twitter.com/LoneStar_PAC/status/2057531828085350738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2026</a></p>
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Trump-Backed Paxton Defeats Cornyn In Texas Senate Clash
