Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump’s 11th hour endorsement against incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn seems to have paid off in Texas, as Trump’s champion Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton swamped Cornyn in the Senate primary, according to CNN and MS NOW projections. Cornyn conceded the election later that evening.
Trump routinely targets Republicans he finds too independent by fielding or supporting more Trumpy candidates in primaries. Recently Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, became the latest victim of Trump's effort to back primary challengers for his perceived enemies within the GOP.
But Paxton is nothing if not a flawed candidate, according to critics. He is an adulterer who attempted to overthrow the 2020 election and who was nearly impeached by his own Republican senate. Sixteen Texas attorneys signed a 31-page complaint against Paxton, demanding he be disbarred for legal offenses.
Still, it will be Paxton, not Cornyn, who will face off against Democrat James Talarico, a state lawmaker, this November.
Both Cornyn and Paxton were found to be trailing hypothetical head-to-heads against Talarico last month in a Texas Public Opinion Research poll of 1,865 voters. That poll showed Talarico with a three-percentage point lead over Cornyn, 44-to-41 percent. But he leads Attorney General Ken Paxton by a wider, five percentage point margin, 46-to-41 percent, according to the poll.
Talarico leads Paxton with Black voters by +56, Latino voters +27 and college-educated voters +14. Nine percent of surveyed respondents remain undecided. Independents break for Talarico against Paxton 53 percent to 28 percent.
Democrats winning a major statewide election in Texas has long been seen as unlikely, but according to a new breakdown from The Atlantic, Trump's recent "casual betrayal" of an endorsement has given the party its best chance at an upset in decades.
“Trump may have cemented a set of very difficult circumstances for his party,” reported the Atlantic. “If Paxton wins on Tuesday, Democrats will probably be better positioned to win statewide in Texas than they’ve been in the past 40 years."Critics complain that Trump’s endorsement means Republican financiers will have to invest more heavily to beat Talarico, which means less money helping vulnerable Republicans in other states, when Texas should have been an easy win.
Trump's vendetta against Republicans who defy him represents a significant shift in party dynamics.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has systematically targeted GOP lawmakers deemed insufficiently loyal, orchestrating primary challenges against sitting senators and representatives. Notable victims include Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary after voting to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial, and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who challenged Trump on government spending and the Epstein files. Trump has also threatened Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert for supporting Massie.
These purges extend beyond symbolic gestures—Trump has mobilized campaign resources and Super PAC funding to ensure defeats, effectively establishing a loyalty test within the party that prioritizes personal allegiance over policy positions or constituent service.
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- Donald Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton over John Cornyn roils Texas Senate race ›
- Senate GOP express frustration, anger, sadness as Donald Trump snubs John Cornyn in Texas ›
- Trump pitches Ken Paxton to Texas voters: 'He will never let you down' ›
- Senate Republicans angry and alarmed over Trump’s Paxton endorsement - POLITICO ›
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