Paxton projected to win Texas Senate GOP runoff, defeating incumbent Cornyn

Politics Ken Paxton projected to win Texas Senate Republican primary runoff, defeating incumbent John Cornyn By Caroline Linton Caroline Linton Associate Managing Editor, Politics Caroline Linton is an associate managing editor on the political team for CBSNews.com. She has previously written for The Daily Beast, Newsweek and amNewYork. Read Full Bio Caroline Linton Updated on: May 26, 2026 / 9:03 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will win the Senate primary runoff for the GOP nomination, CBS News projects, unseating longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a seismic shift for Republicans in the Senate. Paxton will face the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, in November. A Democrat has not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and has not won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1988.  Cornyn, a four-term incumbent who once served in Senate GOP leadership, had received the most votes in a three-way primary race with Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in March, but the contest advanced to a Paxton-Cornyn runoff after no candidate won a majority. Paxton received President Trump's endorsement last week, and Hunt also backed Paxton. The president said Paxton "has always been extremely loyal to me," and called Cornyn a "good man" who "was not supportive of me when times were tough."The race is the most expensive primary in history.The Senate GOP campaign arm had invested millions in the race to defeat Paxton, and Senate Republicans had believed it would be easier to defend the seat against Talarico with Cornyn at the top of the ticket. Asked last week whether the president's endorsement of Paxton would make it more difficult for Republicans to hold onto control of the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune replied that "the majority runs through a lot of different states." It's the latest victory for a Trump-endorsed candidate taking on an incumbent who ran afoul of the president: Sen. Bill Cassidy earlier...