The highly dramatic—if not as thoroughly entertaining as advertised—U.S. Senate Republican runoff between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn ended about as soon as counties started reporting their early vote totals Tuesday night, with the attorney general challenger leading by around 20 points—effectively skunking the incumbent.
This, of course, was little surprise by the time it came to pass—after President Donald Trump made a late endorsement for Paxton in the race last week. The political winds were always at Paxton’s back, while running headlong against Cornyn, who was irreparably tagged as an anti-Trump RINO, a squishy moderate in an era that demands battle-hardened “warriors”—those whose total fealthy to Trump is unquestioned.
Cornyn had hoped to pull off a rare incumbent runoff victory as Trump stayed on the sidelines through much of the race. But the well-over-$100 million that he and his allied GOP groups pumped into ads blasting out Paxton’s numerous and varied scandals—from letting a charged child sex offender off with a sweetheart deal to his alleged self-dealing while in office, to his sordid extramarital affairs and on and on—did nothing but line the pockets of local Texas TV affiliates.
Cornyn had repeatedly stated that Judgement Day would come for Paxton on runoff night. And the judgement that came was that the base of the party wants: more Ken Paxton.
So down goes Cornyn, the silver-haired senior senator from Texas who spent nearly 40 years in elected office in the Lone Star State, riding into power as a district court judge, Supreme Court Justice, and state Attorney General—as the GOP built up its majorities and disassembled the Democratic Party—and meticulously built upon that power.
He got to the U.S. Senate almost 25 years ago, serving through five presidencies and four presidents. He was an emblem for the sort of country club, Chamber of Commerce conservatism that helped Republicans win power in Texas and nationwide, then waned as Trumpism and right-wing hardliners ascended.
Paxton, meanwhile, has been a key tribune of that hardline ascendancy in Texas. His political career has been prematurely eulogized with some frequency over the course of his 11 years as state AG: when he was first indicted on state securities fraud charges; when his top aides blew the whistle to the FBI accusing him of official corruption; when he was primaried by well-heeled challengers in 2022; when he was impeached by Republicans in the Texas House; when he was put on trial in the Texas Senate; when rumors of coming federal indictments swirled and swirled; when his wife and state Senator Angela Paxton publicly divorced him on “biblical grounds,” citing his repeated infidelity just as he began to launch his Senate bid; when his right-wing big donors in Texas declined to finance his Senate run; when Cornyn performed strongly in the March primary and Trump was rumored to be throwing his endorsement behind the incumbent. And on and on.
Ken Paxton has repeatedly proven himself to have the politician’s equivalent of nine lives; he’s the Kevlar Ken to Teflon Don.
Now, he will face off in what will be a very high-profile, very expensive general election contest against Democratic nominee and Austin state Representative James Talarico. National politics observers are already handicapping the race to benefit Democrats because of Paxton’s unique weaknesses as a candidate. And there may be some truth to that. Surely Talarico has a much better chance of pulling off a generational upset in Texas against Paxton rather than the staid Cornyn.
But those who bet against Paxton do so at their own peril. As he’s proven time and time again, his perceived weaknesses have repeatedly morphed into political strengths.
His victory Tuesday marks the final, if somewhat superfluous, nail in the coffin of the so-called Bush era of Republican politics in Texas.
Republican state Representative Mitch Little, who ascended to office after serving as one of Paxton’s defense attorneys in the AG’s impeachment trial, tweeted Tuesday evening the poem “Ozymandias”, which muses on the grandiose hubris of rulers and the fleeting nature of their power.
Paxton’s celebratory watch party up in Plano was attended by troves of enthusiastic supporters. The only ones who showed up for Cornyn’s impending political funeral were, apparently, members of the media.
In his somber farewell address in downtown Austin, Cornyn mentioned Paxton not once, saying only that he’d support the Republican ticket writ-large. Bidding adieu, Cornyn went with a quote from Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech.
Prior to that, however, the senator did get in some final ribbing shortly before the polls closed. Asked about his decision not to pull his negative ads against Paxton, he told CNN: “He’s gotten away with so much for so long and not been held accountable for it, but I think he is an embarrassment … and he’s completely unrepentant.”
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