Escalation: Paxton Defeats Cornyn, Secures GOP Nomination

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate runoff by 27 points. Cornyn became the first Republican U.S. senator from Texas to lose his party’s renomination. Paxton will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November.

The blowout came a week after President Trump endorsed Paxton, and networks called the race as polls closed. Cornyn and his allies had spent about $90 million on ads to Paxton’s roughly $10.5 million; total spending on the race this year has already topped $108 million, with Republicans accounting for almost $75 million.

Cornyn conceded and said he would back the Republican ticket, though he did not mention Paxton by name. Paxton urged Republicans to unify and branded Talarico a radical, while Talarico responded within minutes by calling Paxton corrupt and inviting Cornyn’s supporters to his camp.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources