Trump backs – After President Donald Trump on May 19 refused to back John Cornyn’s reelection bid in Texas and instead threw support behind Ken Paxton, Senate Republicans expressed visible disappointment on Capitol Hill. Early voting has started for the May 26 runoff, with
On Capitol Hill, the change came quickly—quietly in the calendar, loudly in the body language. When President Donald Trump on May 19 abruptly refused to back John Cornyn’s reelection campaign in Texas, Senate Republicans didn’t just disagree with the move. Many looked openly shaken by it.
Cornyn, a powerful Texas Republican who has served for more than two decades, had spent months lobbying for Trump’s endorsement. He even floated the idea of naming a major highway “Trump Interstate.” And he wasn’t alone—several Republican colleagues also pressed their case with the president.
But Trump’s decision landed in a different direction. Instead of backing Cornyn, Trump threw his weight behind Ken Paxton, Cornyn’s scandal-plagued opponent in the Republican primary runoff.
“ He was very well-respected,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said. “There are a lot of folks in our conference who are disappointed.”
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, speaking during his weekly news conference, said he had made his position clear for months about Texas’ Senate primary. Still, he sounded determined to keep supporting Cornyn even after Trump’s call.
“Senator Cornyn is a principled conservative. He is a very effective senator,” Thune said. “None of us control what the president does. He made his decision about that. That doesn’t change the way I feel.”
While Republicans absorbed the impact of the snub, Democrats moved fast. They framed the moment as a chance to worsen the party’s position in Texas and to close in on a seat Democrats have long targeted.
Paxton, the Texas attorney general, is Democrats’ preferred opponent to James Talarico, a state legislator who polling shows could have a chance to potentially turn blue a Senate seat that has long been Democrats’ electoral white whale.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, took a direct victory lap, calling Texas “a huge mess for Republicans.” He said, “I believe that we’re in much better shape taking back Texas than we were a few days ago.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told a group of reporters that Trump’s decision “puts that seat in jeopardy,” according to The New York Times.
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, a close ally of Trump, offered a pointed caution. He said he believes Paxton can still win, but argued it will be “three times more expensive.”
The runoff is already underway at the voting booth level. Early voting has started in the Cornyn-Paxton runoff, with Election Day set for May 26.
The sequence of reactions—Republican disappointment at the top, Democratic momentum in response, and competing warnings about cost and risk—has left Texas Senate politics feeling less like a routine primary and more like a fight over how close a “blue whale” seat can get to breaking open.
John Cornyn Ken Paxton Donald Trump Senate runoff Mike Rounds John Thune Chuck Schumer Lindsey Graham Lisa Murkowski Texas Senate primary early voting May 26