Four-term Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) lost renomination to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday in a GOP primary that became a referendum on loyalty to President Donald Trump.The Trump-backed Paxton received 62.5% of the votes compared to Cornyn’s 37.5% when the Associated Press called the race. The three-term attorney general will face off against the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, in the general election.Cornyn, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, attempted to make the primary campaign about Paxton’s conduct in office, his prior indictment for state securities fraud — which was settled — and allegations of infidelity. Many of the controversies dogged Paxton for years, but had not prevented him from winning statewide office three times.
Instead, the primary race became about Trump and what many Republicans viewed as Cornyn’s insufficient support for the president or conservative principles. The 74-year-old incumbent came under fire for working with Democrats to pass bipartisan gun control legislation after the 2022 Uvalde shooting. Cornyn also came under fire for comments he made in 2023, saying that Trump couldn’t win another White House term and “time has passed him by.”
