John Cornyn booted from Senate as indicted anti-trans TX AG Ken Paxton clinches

[Jessica_Rose ✅]

John Cornyn booted from Senate as indicted anti-trans Texas AG Ken Paxton clinches GOP nomination

https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/ken-paxton-beats-john-cornyn 🔗

Christopher Wiggins (26 May 2026)

Texas Republicans on Tuesday chose Attorney General Ken Paxton, the embattled conservative firebrand who spent years under felony indictment while spearheading some of the nation's most aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ legal campaigns, as their nominee for the United States Senate.

According to Decision Desk HQ, Paxton defeated longtime U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary runoff, winning 62.45 percent of the vote to Cornyn's 37.55 percent, with 58.88 percent reporting at 9 p.m. EDT, the time the race was called.

The contest became one of the most closely watched GOP intraparty battles of the 2026 cycle and a major test of President Donald Trump's influence inside the Republican Party after Trump endorsed Paxton just one week before the election. Cornyn had firmly held the seat since 2002.

The result marks a stunning fall for Cornyn, a fixture of Texas Republican politics for decades and former Senate majority whip, and a dramatic rise for Paxton, who transformed himself from scandal-plagued attorney general into a MAGA movement favorite by embracing hardline culture war fights, election conspiracies, and repeated legal attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.

Paxton's victory sets up a general election matchup with Democratic nominee James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative and outspoken LGBTQ+ ally who advanced from a high-profile Democratic primary earlier this year.

[MistressStevie]

I live in the middle of this race.  Cornyn's fate appeared sealed when he championed what locals call the Cornyn Gun Control Law in 2022.  Details here: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/27/john-cornyn-texas-gun-bill/ 🔗  Texans have been grooming this primary challenge since that vote. The voices I heard did not care about anything but punishment for that act of Republican defiance.  The margin surprised me.  I was expecting a closer race.  There are Talarico signs up already.  Internal polling suggested they had a finger on the victory a couple weeks back as the attack ads targeting Talarico went through the roof on youtube, hulu, and even amazon video.  Months back it was impossible to escape Cornyn ads.  I expect this to be an insanely expensive race as Paxton carries a certain infuriation factor. Paxton ads have been touting his detransition deal lots.