John Cornyn booted from Senate as indicted anti-trans Texas AG Ken Paxton clinches GOP nomination

Updated: Texas AG Ken Paxton calls James Talarico’s support for trans kids ‘weird’ in runoff victory speechTexas Republicans on Tuesday chose Attorney General Ken Paxton, the embattled conservative firebrand who spent years under felony indictment while spearheading some of the nation’s most aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ legal campaigns, as their nominee for the United States Senate.According to Decision Desk HQ, Paxton defeated longtime U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary runoff, winning 62.45 percent of the vote to Cornyn’s 37.55 percent, with 58.88 percent reporting at 9 p.m. EDT, the time the race was called.The contest became one of the most closely watched GOP intraparty battles of the 2026 cycle and a major test of President Donald Trump’s influence inside the Republican Party after Trump endorsed Paxton just one week before the election. Cornyn had firmly held the seat since 2002.The result marks a stunning fall for Cornyn, a fixture of Texas Republican politics for decades and former Senate majority whip, and a dramatic rise for Paxton, who transformed himself from scandal-plagued attorney general into a MAGA movement favorite by embracing hardline culture war fights, election conspiracies, and repeated legal attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.Related: The rainbow Pride pin James Talarico encouraged me to wearWhat comes nextPaxton’s victory sets up a general election matchup with Democratic nominee James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative and outspoken LGBTQ+ ally who advanced from a high-profile Democratic primary earlier this year.Talarico, a former public school teacher and Christian seminarian, has built a national profile by pairing economic populism with a faith-rooted defense of marginalized communities, including transgender people. Democrats see the race as a rare opportunity in deep-red Texas, betting that voter fatigue over Paxton’s legal scandals, ethical controversies, and polarizing tenure could make him a vulnerable gene