Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.”
Paxton’s victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn – who was first elected to the Senate in 2002 – the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.
Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton’s election night party when the race was called, and he took the stage to supporters chanting his name.
He quickly gave credit to Trump.
“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen,” Paxton said.
“President Trump is the leader of our party, and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”
Cornyn’s loss followed primaries this month where Trump successfully backed challengers to Republican lawmakers who had displeased him in Louisiana, Kentucky and Indiana, a sign of his enduring influence among primary voters.
The candidates endorsed by Trump in those states are expected to easily win against Democratic opponents.
However, the president’s decision to boost Paxton, who won on Tuesday with the Republican base shrugging off his past scandals, may be a bigger gamble in the general election.
Democrats are hopeful that their nominee, state Representative James Talarico, has a rare opportunity to win a statewide race in Texas – and help the party retake control of the Senate – with Paxton as his opponent.
Tuesday’s runoffs also decided Democratic US House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.
In Austin on Tuesday night, Cornyn gave a short concession speech tinged with emotion to a room of only reporters.
“Tonight we’ve come up short,” Cornyn said, adding that he’d support Paxton in the general election.
“I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again.”
Cornyn said in 2023 as Trump was running to return to the White House that his time “has passed him by,” a statement that came back to bite him.
He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the US and Mexico – a project he now supports.
Cornyn had the backing of Senate GOP leaders who said he would be the stronger general election candidate against Talarico, which was also the senator’s argument to voters before Tuesday.
That’s not lost on Paxton, who said in his speech that “without a shadow of a doubt, I will be the Democrats’ No. 1 target in November.”
Talarico’s campaign hit back on Tuesday night on the social platform X, highlighting what they – and some Republicans – see as Paxton’s weakness, including an FBI investigation and impeachment for corruption in which he was later acquitted. (AP)
