John Cornyn and Ken Paxton advance to runoff in Republican primary for Texas US Senate seat
DALLAS (AP) — Longtime Sen. John Cornyn and MAGA favorite Ken Paxton are heading to a May runoff in Texas’ Republican Senate primary, setting up what’s expected to be a nasty and expensive second round and a renewed push to win the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
On the Democratic side, two other candidates who have garnered strong national attention — Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico — were in a race for the right to face the winner of the Cornyn-Paxton runoff.
Texas, along with North Carolina and Arkansas, kicked off midterm elections with control of Congress at stake and against the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Cornyn is seeking a fifth term but facing a tough challenge from Paxton, the state attorney general, and hoping to avoid becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history not to be renominated.
The GOP primary race also featured U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt — ensuring that neither of the top two finishers won a majority and setting up the second round of voting May 26. Hunt finished a distant third and conceded.
All three campaigned on their ties to Trump, who did not make an endorsement in the race. Now both Cornyn and Paxton will again fiercely compete to curry Trump’s favor.
Cornyn was facing a tough enough battle that he didn’t hold an election night party. Instead, in comments to reporters in Austin, he sought to make the case that a runoff win by Paxton would leave “a dead weight at the top of the ticket for Republicans.”
“I’ve worked for decades to build the Republican Party, both here in Texas and nationally,” Cornyn said. “I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton to risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years.”
Addressing supporters in Dallas, meanwhile, Paxton made a point of feeling like he had during a recent trip to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate, while also proclaiming, “We proved something they’ll never understand in Washington.”
“Texas is not for sale,” he said.
In the Democratic campaign, Crockett and Talarico each argued that they would be the stronger general election candidate in a state that backed Trump by almost 14 percentage points in 2024 and where no Democrat has won a statewide race in over 30 years.
Voting was extended in Dallas County and Williamson County, outside Austin, after voters reported being turned away and directed to different voting precincts because of new primary rules. Paxton’s office later challenged a decision keeping the polls open longer, and the state Supreme Court ruled that ballots cast by people not in line by 7 p.m. should be separated from others.
It was not immediately clear how the court’s action would be carried out or how many eligible ballots remained to be counted in Dallas County, Crockett’s home base, after confusion about polling places and a flurry of court filings. Crockett, meanwhile, planned to file a lawsuit after voting was concluded.
Texas’ races also featured new congressional district boundaries that GOP lawmakers — urged on by Trump — redrew to help elect more Republicans.
Trump looms large
Cornyn’s cool relationship with Trump is part of what made him vulnerable. He and allied groups spent at least $64 million in television advertising alone since July to try stabilize his support.
Paxton began campaigning in earnest only last month. He’s made national headlines for filing lawsuits against Democratic initiatives. He remained popular in Texas despite a 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges, of which he was acquitted, and accusations of marital infidelity by his wife.
Senate GOP leaders, who are backing Cornyn, worry that Paxton’s liabilities would make it harder to defend the seat if he is the nominee — and require significant spending that could be better used elsewhere.
On Tuesday evening a man wearing a camouflage hat, sunglasses and a mask covering his mouth and nose entered the Uptown Marriott hotel in Dallas, where Paxton was expected to address supporters later. He was asked to leave, and it was not clear whether his presence was connected to Paxon’s event. The man was later detained by police, who removed ammunition magazines and shotgun shells from his vehicle. Paxton’s campaign declined to comment.
Stylistic opposites vie for Democrats’ Senate nomination
Crockett and Talarico waged a spirited race as Democrats look for their first Senate win in Texas since 1988.
Talarico, a seminarian who often references the Bible, has held rallies across the state including in heavily Republican areas. Crockett has built a national profile for zinger attacks on Republicans and has focused on turning out Black voters in the Dallas and Houston areas.
Dallas voter Tanu Sani said she cast her ballot for Talarico because he “really spoke to me in the way he tries to unify.”
Tomas Sanchez, a voter in Dallas County, said he supported Crockett because “she cares about immigrants, she cares about the American people in a way that a lot of the Republicans have proven they haven’t.”
Talarico outspent Crockett on television advertising by more than four to one as of late February. He got a burst of attention — and campaign contributions — last month from CBS’ decision not to air his interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert, who said the network pulled the interview for fear of angering Trump’s FCC.
Key House primaries
Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting was aimed at helping the GOP pick up Democratic-held seats and maintain its threadbare House majority in Washington. The result matched several Democratic incumbents in primary fights and set up new general election battlegrounds.
In the 34th District, former Rep. Mayra Flores is attempting a comeback. Flores made history in a 2022 special election as the first Republican to win in the Rio Grande Valley in 150 years, but lost her bid for a full term later that year. She faces Eric Flores, a lawyer endorsed by Trump, for the nomination to run against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.
In the 23rd District, Rep. Tony Gonzales is considered vulnerable after an alleged affair with a staffer who killed herself. He’s being challenged by gun manufacturer and YouTube influencer Brandon Herrera, who calls himself “the AK guy.” The district includes Uvalde, site of a deadly 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw is challenged in the 2nd District by state Rep. Steve Toth, who was endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz.
Former Major League Baseball star Mark Teixeira clinched the Republican primary to succeed GOP Chip Roy in southwest Texas’ 21st District.
Democrat Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner, won his party’s primary in South Texas’ 15th District against physician Ada Cuellar. The nominee will face two-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.
In the 33rd District, Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson faces former Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker and 2024 Senate nominee.
Democratic Rep. Al Green also is fighting to stay in office after his Houston-based 9th District was drawn to be lean Republican. Green, 78, is now running in a newly drawn 18th District against Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, 37, who won a January special election for the current 18th District.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott easily won his primary and will face Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa. Roy is running for attorney general, will face a primary runoff with Mayes Middleton after neither captured more than 50% of the votes Tuesday.
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Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Sara Cline and Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed.