Ken Paxton Beats Sen. John Cornyn In Texas GOP Primary After Trump's Last-Minute Endorsement

BreakingBusinessKen Paxton Beats Sen. John Cornyn In Texas GOP Primary After Trump's Last-Minute EndorsementBySara Dorn,Forbes Staff. Sara Dorn is a Forbes news reporter who covers politics.Follow AuthorMay 26, 2026, 09:04pm EDTToplineTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton beat Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday in the heated runoff for the Texas Senate GOP primary, in a race that has divided the Republican Party after President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton over the four-term incumbent, bucking many GOP donors and establishment Republicans.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, smiles during a campaign rally at Matt's Rancho Martinez on May 19, 2026, in Allen, Texas. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)The Dallas Morning News via Getty ImagesKey FactsPaxton held 62.5% shortly after the Associated Press called the race, ahead of Cornyn’s 37.5%.Paxton was widely expected to win after Trump endorsed him on May 19, after refusing to weigh in during the initial primary in March, when Cornyn finished ahead of Paxton by about one point and another challenger, Rep. Wesley Hunt, came in a distant third. Since no candidate secured more than 50% of the votes in the initial primary, the contest moved to a runoff.Trump said Paxton is “someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT” in a Truth Social post announcing his endorsement, which surprised and angered many Senate Republicans.Trump said Cornyn “is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” noting Cornyn was “very late in backing me” (Cornyn was critical of Trump in the 2016 presidential race and supported Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during the primary, before lining up behind Trump when he became the nominee).The general election contest is expected to be highly competitive: A Texas Southern University/YouGov poll taken April 22-May 6 found Cornyn leading the Democratic nominee, s...