Trump’s Texas win spotlights GOP impeachment divide

Sen. John Cornyn wasn’t among the Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump in either of his impeachment trials, but the Texas runoff that elevated Attorney General Ken Paxton shows how Trump’s endorsement reshaped GOP power anyway. The party’s impeachment

On May 26, when the Texas Senate primary runoff was called for Attorney General Ken Paxton, one fact landed with particular weight for Sen. John Cornyn: Trump’s endorsement had helped decide the race, even as Cornyn’s impeachment record doesn’t match the lawmakers Trump has targeted most loudly.

Paxton won the runoff after polls closed, with the Associated Press, Fox News and other outlets calling the race about an hour later. Cornyn conceded the result. The election followed Trump’s decision to back Paxton over the longtime incumbent senator, who has held office for more than 20 years.

Trump influence again proved decisive inside the Republican Party—so decisive, in fact, that Cornyn’s supporters watched impeachment voting records collide with the reality of primary politics.

Trump said Cornyn was “not supportive of me when times were tough,” delivering the criticism while endorsing Paxton. That line was especially stark given what Cornyn did not do: he was not one of the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial.

Cornyn’s voting history is cleaner than the label Trump used against him. Cornyn voted to acquit Trump in both impeachment trials.

The impeachment mechanics matter here. An impeachment is akin to an indictment: it approves formal charges against a federal officeholder who has been accused of committing a crime. The House must adopt the articles of impeachment by a simple majority before the Senate holds an impeachment trial. Only a two-thirds majority vote to convict can remove the accused from office.

Which senators voted to impeach Trump, and what happened next, is part of the same timeline that now reads like a political sorting test.

Trump was impeached twice by the House, and the Senate acquitted him both times.

In December 2019. the House voted to impeach Trump on two articles: one charging him with abuse of power by asking Ukrainian officials to investigate his political opponent. and another charging that he obstructed the congressional investigation into the matter. In February 2020, the Senate voted to acquit the president, and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only Republican to cross party lines to vote to convict.

In January 2021. the House voted to impeach Trump again. charging him with “incitement to insurrection” related to the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Ten Republicans broke ranks to vote with Democrats to impeach. Only two of those 10 lawmakers are still in office, and one has said he will not seek re-election in 2026. The others retired from Congress or lost their races.

The Senate trial occurred after Trump left office. Some Republicans argued it was unnecessary because he was no longer in power. Still. a majority voted to convict. with seven Republicans crossing party lines—but the 57-43 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction. Because Trump was acquitted, there was no vote to bar him from holding office again.

Back in Texas, the fallout illustrates how impeachment votes can coexist with a separate loyalty test in primaries.

The Texas runoff also echoed a broader pattern: a similar story played out for Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, who lost his primary earlier this month. That loss came after Trump campaigned against him, pointing to Cassidy’s vote to convict him in the 2021 impeachment trial.

Where Cornyn fits into the picture is the point. He did not vote to convict. Yet Trump still backed Paxton and criticized him as “not supportive.”

The sequence leaves a stark contrast in who remains after the impeachment-era lawmakers are measured against today’s primary politics: of the seven Republican senators who voted against Trump in the impeachment trials. only three still hold office. One just lost a reelection campaign, and another faces reelection this fall.

Cassidy’s term ends in January 2027, since he lost his primary. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is the only one of that group who has been reelected since voting to convict Trump.

That leaves Collins. She is up for reelection in Maine this year. Even with her seat protected in the GOP primary—where she is running unchallenged—a political newcomer named Graham Platner has emerged as her likely Democratic opponent in a race that has already drawn national attention.

Trump has not been quiet about Collins in the past. He expressed anger at her for voting against her own party.

On Jan. 8. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America.” In that same post. he said “Susan Collins. Lisa Murkowski. Rand Paul. Josh Hawley. and Todd Young should never be elected to office again.”.

Platner’s stance adds another layer to the pressure on Collins. On May 21, Platner said Trump should be impeached, though he cautioned his supporters it might not be possible, according to The Hill.

For Cornyn, the question now is less whether he voted to convict—he didn’t—and more what it means when the party’s top messenger chooses a different benchmark entirely: whether lawmakers are judged by impeachment history, or by their willingness to follow Trump’s endorsements when the race is on.

As Texas moved on to a Paxton-led outcome. Cornyn’s record didn’t erase the influence that decided his political fate. And across the country. the survivors of the impeachment vote count—three still in office among those who voted against Trump—now look like they’re being tested again. just on a different clock.

John Cornyn Ken Paxton Texas Senate primary runoff Trump endorsement impeachment trial Susan Collins Lisa Murkowski Bill Cassidy Mitt Romney Rand Paul Josh Hawley Todd Young