Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton enters a high-profile May 26 GOP runoff against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn after President Donald Trump’s surprise endorsement days before the vote. With the Texas Senate seat at stake for November’s race against Democrat James Tal
On the morning of Tuesday, May 26, Texas Republicans will decide whether they want Ken Paxton—or John Cornyn—to carry the party’s standard into November.
The spotlight has narrowed fast. Trump’s surprise endorsement landed days before the GOP runoff. after Paxton and Cornyn failed to win more than 50% of the vote in the March primary. Now. with Paxton positioned as a staunch MAGA ally and Cornyn having expressed opposition to Trump. the question for voters isn’t only who can win a Senate seat—it’s who should lead the Republican Party.
Paxton says the endorsement gives him “a bit of momentum” heading into the runoff for the GOP nomination for November’s Senate race.
Paxton, 63, has spent years aligning his public record with a hard-edged conservative agenda—while also collecting controversies that Democrats are eager to weaponize in the general election.
What his background looks like
Ken Paxton served in the Texas House from 2003 and 2013, followed by a brief tenure in the Texas Senate before winning the election for the 51st Texas Attorney General in 2014, according to the attorney general’s webpage. He has been reelected twice.
His initiatives include efforts to sue Obamacare on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, an approach that included stopping the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the United States” rule, and support for immigration crackdowns.
He is now chasing a Senate seat left by Cornyn.
“It is interesting that he served in the same office as Cornyn did before Cornyn ran successfully for the U.S. Senate seat,” said Blake Farrar, associate professor of political science at Texas State University. “Now Paxton is trying to replace his predecessor in the attorney general’s office in the U.S. Senate.”.
A contrast that matters inside the party
The runoff also draws a sharp contrast between the candidates’ relationship to the Trump agenda. Paxton is running as the candidate who is unyielding in his support of the president’s agenda. Cornyn, by contrast, has expressed opposition to Trump.
Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, professor of political science at the University of North Texas, framed the choice as one between compromise and loyalty.
“If you want a candidate who will take conservative positions without compromise, Paxton is your choice,” Eshbaugh-Soha said.
Still, Paxton’s defenders are asking Republicans to look past the baggage that can follow him into the November contest against Democrat James Talarico, a centrist Presbyterian state lawmaker with a rising national profile.
Wide support among some GOP voters is paired with risk concerns from others.
Eshbaugh-Soha said Paxton was “a favorite of conservatives,” but added that his career is plagued with ethical, moral, and personal questions. Those concerns, he argued, could make Paxton “a greater risk in the general election.”
Paxton’s controversies are real: he was impeached in 2023 on bribery charges by the Texas House, and he has more recently been accused of infidelity by his wife.
A GOP turning point—with a national pattern
The May 26 runoff is also being read as another moment in a broader fight inside the Republican Party over who gets to set the terms.
Tuesday’s contest between two Republicans is coming as Trump pushes to maintain control of the party. The president has shown he is willing to challenge detractors from within, including through endorsements that aim to remove incumbents aligned with the older Republican establishment.
Last week in Louisiana, incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy lost after Trump urged his supporters to vote him out. In Kentucky, Rep. Thomas Massie lost his GOP primary to a Trump-backed candidate after Massie opposed the White House.
“We are seeing nationwide that a Trump endorsement is key,” Eshbaugh-Soha said.
Farrar put it in terms of the electoral map and what a Paxton victory could signal.
“Not to mention Cornyn has served in the U.S. Senate since 2002, and it is very difficult to outlast a sitting U.S. Senator,” Farrar said.
“If Paxton can pull off the win it will be a huge signal that the ‘Trump Wing’ is now in full control of the Republican Party while the Older ‘Bush-era establishment’ crowd will be watching from the sidelines,” he added.
That math matters because voters in the March primary split in a way that still echoes into this runoff. Wesley Hunt, a Republican who finished behind Paxton and Cornyn in March with 13.5% of the votes, will not be on Tuesday’s ballot. The runoff now forces his supporters to choose.
A remaining choice for Republicans who backed Hunt
One pressure point for Paxton and Cornyn is how each candidate appeals to Texas Republicans who supported Wesley Hunt.
The question becomes whether those voters will reward Paxton’s stronger conservative credentials—or whether they will vote strategically, judging that Cornyn has less personal and political baggage and could therefore be more likely to beat Talarico in November.
“What would Texas voters decide: more willing to support a candidate with stronger conservative credentials or would they vote strategically, thinking that Cornyn has less personal and political baggage and, thus, more likely to beat Talarico in November?” Farrar asked.
Analytically. the runoff compresses two different Republican instincts into one deadline: loyalty to Trump’s agenda on one side. and the structural advantage of fighting a general election with a sitting U.S. senator on the other. With Trump’s endorsement already reshaping the campaign’s momentum. the vote on Tuesday will decide which incentive wins out among Texas Republicans.
Where the race stands now
For Paxton, the stakes are personal and political at once. He’s entering a runoff against a long-serving senator with a record that pairs aggressive legal action—suing Obamacare. stopping the EPA’s “Waters of the United States” rule. supporting immigration crackdowns—with a trail of ethical and personal controversy that could become more pronounced once the general election against Talarico begins.
For Cornyn, the path to the nomination is narrower for a different reason: he has stayed in the U.S. Senate since 2002, and Farrar said that it is very difficult to outlast a sitting U.S. Senator.
By the time polls close on May 26, Texas Republicans will not just be selecting a candidate. They’ll be answering the question that now drives the party in election after election: whether Trump’s influence is a temporary moment—or the new baseline for power.
Ken Paxton John Cornyn Texas Senate runoff Trump endorsement GOP infighting James Talarico Wesley Hunt Bill Cassidy Thomas Massie MAGA Texas politics
So Trump picks Paxton last minute? Sounds like favoritism.
I don’t even get why they’re fighting, they’re both Republicans. Like can’t we just pick one and move on? Cornyn already had his chance.
Paxton says the endorsement gives momentum but it literally says it was days before the vote… that’s not momentum that’s panic lol. Also wasn’t Cornyn the one who blocked some stuff? Or am I mixing him up with another senator
This is the same Texas drama every cycle. If Trump endorses Paxton then GOP loyalty gets tested, but if voters are mad at Paxton’s controversies then they’ll just “weaponize” it on the other side anyway. Not sure what John Cornyn even did wrong besides not kissing the ring hard enough.