10 Texas counties to watch in the Cornyn-Paxton clash: From the Politics Desk

From the Politics Desk10 Texas counties to watch in the Cornyn-Paxton clash: From the Politics DeskPlus, Republican redistricting setbacks in South Carolina and Alabama.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleKornacki: Cornyn counting on ‘electability’ message to overcome Trump’s Paxton endorsement15:36Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 26, 2026, 5:19 PM EDTBy The Politics DeskWelcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Steve Kornacki lays out the key parts of Texas that will determine whether Sen. John Cornyn can survive his primary tonight. Plus, we have the latest on Republican redistricting setbacks in South Carolina and Alabama. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.— Adam Wollner10 counties to watch in Texas tonightAnalysis by Steve KornackiA victory by Sen. John Cornyn in today’s Republican primary runoff in Texas would represent a major upset. The limited available polling shows him running behind state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who received a potentially decisive boost when President Donald Trump endorsed him last week. Cornyn’s hopes depend on a repeat of March’s preliminary round, when he unexpectedly finished in first place over Paxton, 42%-41%, despite trailing in most polls. A third Republican, Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston-area district, finished third on the multicandidate ballot with 17%. A key to Cornyn’s first-place finish was his relative strength in most of the state’s population centers. Consider the 10 top vote-producing counties in the preliminary round, which made up about 45% of all votes cast statewide. Cornyn won seven of them.Cornyn’s showing in these counties netted out to a 34,883-vote edge over Paxton....