Texas primary runoff election: John Cornyn fights for his Senate career against Ken Paxton

Allies of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are feeling confident as polls across much of the state will soon close in the GOP Senate runoff, arguing President Donald Trump’s endorsement has helped boost his campaign in the final stretch.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks during her primary election night event in Dallas, Texas, on March 3.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett was defeated outright by State Rep. James Talarico for the Democratic US Senate nomination in March – but she’s still been a presence in primary runoffs, taking sides in unresolved intraparty fights created by last year’s GOP redistricting push.

A million-dollar ad campaign from a crypto industry super PAC, Protect Progress, features Crockett stumping for Rep. Christian Menefee in his matchup with fellow Democratic Rep. Al Green in the Houston-area 18th Congressional District.

Meanhile, Crockett also hit the campaign trail last week to support Rep. Colin Allred in his primary runoff against Rep. Julie Johnson in the Dallas-area 33rd District – a minor proxy fight with Crockett’s own former primary rival, Talarico, who endorsed Johnson.

CNN interviews incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate primary runoff

7:31 • Source: CNN

CNN interviews incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate primary runoff

7:31

Sen. John Cornyn, in the final hours of a bitter primary campaign for his seat, launched a blistering attack against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and bluntly warned that it would cost the GOP “several hundred millions of dollars” to prop up his Republican foe’s candidacy if he becomes the nominee in November.

Speaking to CNN’s Manu Raju in Austin, Cornyn called Paxton an “embarrassment” and attacked him for “reckless” behavior, rejecting calls from his primary opponent and other Republicans to steer towards a more positive message now that Trump has endorsed Paxton’s campaign.

“I think it’s time for accountability,” Cornyn said when asked why he continues to attack Paxton. “He’s gotten away with so much for so long and not been held accountable for it, but I think he is an embarrassment, his misbehavior. And he’s completely unrepentant. I mean, it’s one thing for a person to make a mistake, and then say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll do better next time.’ But that’s not Ken Paxton.”

Paxton, who has weathered impeachment scandal in the past and high-profile investigations, has contended those probes were “witch-hunts” by his political foes and furiously denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Cornyn also reiterated his warning that a Paxton nomination could cost the party “hundreds of millions” of dollars that could spent in other battleground states.

“So, the truth is that that’s money that could be and should be better spent in places like Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, and New Hampshire,” Cornyn said. “If the Texas Senate seat is in jeopardy, that really jeopardizes our majority, because it will take away necessary resources to win these other seats that we’re depending on to maintain the majority, and perhaps grow it.”

CNN’s Arpita Dasika contributed to this report.

James Talarico, speaks during his primary election night party in Austin, Texas, on March 4.

James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, responded today to Republican claims that he is a vegan, even though he is not and has promoted an image of himself eating a turkey leg at the state fair.

Paxton, along with President Donald Trump, have been mocking Talarico as hostile to meat in recent days, previewing a potential general election filled with diet-related ridicule of Talarico.

While Talarico is not a vegan, he talked about reducing consumption and running a “non-meat” campaign in a 2022 clip resurfaced by Republicans.

Some context: Paxton weathered a long list of scandals before emerging as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Several months after taking office as attorney general in 2015, Paxton was indicted on felony securities fraud charges in Texas and was accused of misleading investors in a company years earlier. He would have faced decades in prison if convicted.

The case dragged on for nearly nine years, ending in a pretrial agreement in March 2024 that required him to complete community service and pay restitution. Paxton did not have to enter a plea under the deal.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, on May 15.

President Donald Trump has been on a bit of a hot streak throughout the month of May when it comes to vanquishing GOP candidates he’s deemed disloyal.

In Indiana on May 5, five Trump-backed challengers defeated incumbent Republican state senators who rebuffed the president’s demands to redraw the state’s congressional map to help flip two US House seats. One GOP incumbent beat back a challenge from a Trump-endorsed candidate while another incumbent senator holds a 3-vote lead, with their rival requesting a recount.

Eleven days later in Louisiana, Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of three Republicans left in the chamber who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, placed third in the GOP primary — trailing Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow and state treasurer John Fleming.

On May 19, Trump successfully ousted Rep. Thomas Massie in his Kentucky House primary — with the president’s pick Ed Gallrein winning by more than 9 points.

Tonight, the Texas GOP Senate runoff between state Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn will serve as the latest test of Trump’s sway within the Republican Party. A Paxton victory would extend Trump’s revenge tour and further solidify his already firm grip on the GOP.

Sue Reeves wears a “Make Texas Great Again” sequined jacket at the venue for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s election night event in Plano, Texas, on Tuesday.

Sue Reeves, the secretary of the Collin County Republican Party, wore a “Make Texas Great Again” sequined jacket — in red, white and blue colors — as one of the first attendees to arrive Tuesday at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s runoff night event in Plano, Texas.

Reeves said she’s supported Sen. John Cornyn in the past but thinks “he’s changed a little bit” and believes Paxton better represents “my values.”

Reeves believes Paxton can beat Democratic nominee James Talarico in November despite Cornyn arguing the attorney general’s personal and legal scandals would be a liability for Republicans.

People stand in line to vote at the Austin Public Library in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday.

Polls will begin to close in Texas at 8 p.m. ET and all polls will be closed at 9 p.m. ET. Texas is split into two time zones, with most of the state (and all the House races with runoffs) in the Central time zone and the western part of the state in the Mountain time zone.

In Texas, counties can start processing mail ballots before Election Day, with mail and early votes typically released first.

While reporting patterns vary across election nights, in the first round of the Senate Republican primary on March 3, the first votes were reported at 8 p.m., with around 34% of the vote in by 9 p.m. and more than 70% in by midnight.

In November 2024, the first votes were reported at 8 p.m., 61% was in by 9 p.m. and 88% was in by midnight.

Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist and housing advocate, caught Democrats off guard when she placed first in the March 3 primary for Texas’ 35th Congressional District, despite spending just a few thousand dollars on her campaign.

That surprise quickly turned to alarm as her use of antisemitic tropes in criticizing Israel and her primary rival Johnny Garcia — whose bid for the US House seat has been backed by a pro-Israel group — gained national attention, drawing widespread condemnation from members of both parties.

Now, today’s runoff election has become for many a referendum on Galindo’s remarks and a test of whether national Democrats, at a time of increasing anti-Israel sentiment in the party base, can stop her. Thanks in part to nearly $1 million in mysterious super PAC spending, Democrats are grappling with the possibility that Galindo could win the nomination — an outcome the party worries could jeopardize their chances in the district and tie them to rhetoric they’ve denounced.

Galindo, who denies that her remarks are antisemitic, has attributed her success in the first round of the primary to grassroots support. She raised just $5,344.50 through the end of March — a fraction of what other candidates brought in — according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.

Read more about the Texas Democrat who has been rebuked by her own party.

Texas offers a consequential test today of President Donald Trump’s sway over the MAGA base and our vote count literally runs from A to Z — Anderson County to Zavala County.

Texas has 254 counties in all — more than any other state, of course — and one thing to watch for as we track votes in CNN’s Magic Wall tonight is whether there is noticeable split in preference in the Senate runoff election between cities and close-in suburbs and the giant rural swaths of Texas.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has the Trump endorsement. Incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn hopes to win despite that, but that is the tallest of tall orders in a state where Trump won 242 counties — all but 12 — in November 2024.

So watch Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis, Bexar and El Paso counties and some of their close-in neighbors. The state’s major population centers — Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso and Austin are in those counties, and Cornyn’s perhaps only hope is to win huge in places where more moderate and establishment Republicans are easier to find.

A few other Texas county notes: Rockwall, near Dallas, is the smallest land-wise but home to more than 100,000 Texans. Brewster — in southwest Texas — is the largest but home to just 10,000 or so. And there’s tiny King County in north central Texas. Trump won 96% in King County in 2024 — 129 votes to six votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Follow along with us tonight at the magic wall at 7:45 p.m. ET on CNN.com and the CNN app.

Former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake says he’d be “very surprised if John Cornyn survives” in the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff election tonight, where he’s up against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The former senator also weighed in on Cornyn’s comments that Trump is sending a message to the Senate that his agenda is moving faster, adding that he doesn’t think it will go over well with Republicans.

Flake said that having to spend more money to defend Paxton will also make it “immeasurably more difficult” for Republicans to hold onto the Senate.

“Texas is Texas, and it may go Republicans’ way — it probably will — but now Republicans will have to spend $100 million and a lot of resources and time that they wouldn’t have to spend there, and that’s time and money that can’t go into other races in Ohio or Maine or elsewhere,” Flake said.