Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the stage during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin, File)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-05-19T16:40:08Z<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a><\/span>, supercharging his effort to oust incumbent Sen. John Cornyn<\/a><\/span> in a Republican primary runoff.<\/p>\n Paxton and Cornyn qualified for the May 26 runoff after a March 3 primary, while Rep. Wesley Hunt finished third and did not advance.<\/p>\n Although the four-term Cornyn has backed Trump\u2019s agenda in Washington, Paxton pitched himself as a political warrior for the Make America Great Again movement. <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s endorsement puts him at odds with his party\u2019s establishment, which is convinced that Cornyn is the better candidate for November\u2019s general election. The Democrats nominated Texas State Rep. James Talarico<\/a><\/span> as their candidate for Senate. <\/p>\n The runoff had been shaping up as a bitter and expensive battle for the future of the Republican Party, and one that was diverting resources from other competitive races elsewhere in the country. <\/p>\n Trump frustrated some Republicans by declining to endorse earlier in the race. On the Friday before the March 3 primary, he said that he had \u201cpretty much\u201d decided whom to support \u2014 but declined to say who \u2014 when asked by reporters on a visit to Corpus Christi. <\/p>\n On the day after the primary, Trump promised to make an endorsement and said he would expect the candidate without his support to drop out. Paxton had said that he would not leave the race.<\/p>\n Trump has had an at-times cool relationship with Cornyn, notably after the senator suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his \u201ctime has passed him by.\u201d <\/p>\n