Trump Endorses Ken Paxton as Texas Runoff Challenges Incumbent John Cornyn

Texas voters headed to the polls in a Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff pitting incumbent Sen. John Cornyn against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, after neither candidate secured enough votes in the March primary to win the nomination.

President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton last week, and the winner of the runoff will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the November election.

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NBC News said polls in most of Texas closed at 8 p.m. ET, with the rest closing an hour later, while AP reported the runoff election was held Tuesday in Texas.

AP said Trump’s endorsement gives Paxton a boost and puts Cornyn at risk of becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history to seek the party’s nod and lose.

AP also reported that Cornyn’s campaign and allied groups spent roughly $90 million in advertising since last year, mostly attacking Paxton.

Cornyn defended his Senate record in an interview, saying he votes with Trump “99.3%” of the time and arguing Trump’s decision not to endorse him in the GOP primary was not personal.

Cornyn also told voters that “I know who gets to choose our senators, and it’s the people of Texas,” according to AP, hours after Trump’s endorsement.

AP News

The Washington Post framed the contest as a bitter and expensive Republican primary campaign, saying Paxton received a coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump last week.

USA Today reported that Trump called Paxton a “true MAGA Warrior” and said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough,” while also describing the endorsement as destabilizing the White House’s relationship with Senate Republicans.

In a separate thread of reactions, AP quoted David Jacobson, a Dallas-area resident, saying “Maybe it’s time for a change,” after voting near Dallas.

The runoff outcome determines who will challenge James Talarico in November, with AP saying Democrats see hope of winning a statewide Texas office for the first time in decades.

“Cornyn tries to keep his Texas Senate seat in a runoff with Trump-backed Paxton PLANO, Texas (AP) — Texans are choosing a Republican nominee for U”

AP News

AP reported that Tuesday’s runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.

NBC News said the Texas Senate runoff was part of a day that also included runoffs in House primaries, including two in which Democratic incumbents could lose their re-election bids.

USA Today described the broader stakes for Republicans, saying Trump’s endorsement of Paxton over Cornyn could affect the party’s ability to get things done in an election year.

NBC News also noted that Trump visited Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical and dental exams, as the Texas contests played out.