{"id":2575988,"date":"2026-03-04T11:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cornyn-forced-into-runoff-with-ken-paxton-after-outspending-texas-ag-33-1\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:17:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:17:30","slug":"cornyn-forced-into-runoff-with-ken-paxton-after-outspending-texas-ag-33-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cornyn-forced-into-runoff-with-ken-paxton-after-outspending-texas-ag-33-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cornyn Forced into Runoff with Ken Paxton After Outspending Texas AG 33\u20131"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcornyn-forced-into-runoff-with-ken-paxton-after-outspending-texas-ag-33-1%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2575988&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas Republicans failed to produce a outright winner in the U.S. Senate GOP primary, setting up a May 26 runoff between incumbent John Cornyn and Texas attorney General Ken Paxton. With about 94% of votes counted, Cornyn led at 41.9% to Paxton\u2019s 40.7% (roughly 897,187 vs. 871,672 votes). Wesley Hunt was a distant third with 13.5% (289,403 votes),and other candidates combined for about 3.9%.<\/p>\n<p>On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico led with 52.8% (1,188,253 votes) over Rep. Jasmine Crockett\u2019s 45.9% (1,034,096 votes). The piece cites AP\/Washington Post results and notes the runoff rule requiring a majority to avoid a second round. It also frames campaign dynamics, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/britain-to-examine-competition-in-cloud-services\/\" title=\"Britain to examine competition in cloud services\">including messaging<\/a> from the NRSC praising Cornyn as a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >safer general-election bet<\/a>, Paxton casting the race as a David-vs-Goliath struggle, and debates over gun-control positions that Paxton says would undermine Cornyn. The article also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prominent-ex-obama-lawyer-signed-epstein-emails-with-xoxo-amid-vulgar-jokes\/\" title=\"Prominent Ex-Obama Lawyer Signed Epstein Emails with &#039;xoxo&#039; Amid Vulgar Jokes\">includes social-media commentary<\/a> and related political advertising and commentary.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Nobody won outright in the Texas Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, which will go to a May 26 runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>According to Associated Press numbers published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/elections\/results\/2026\/03\/03\/texas-senate-primary-election-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a>, with 94 percent of the votes in, Cornyn led with 41.9 percent of the votes, and Paxton was second at 40.7 percent.<\/p>\n<p>The count showed Cornyn with 897,187 votes against 871,672 for Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>Third-place finisher Rep. Wesley Hunt received 289,403 votes to secure 13.5 percent of the votes cast. Other candidates ate up 3.9 percent of the votes.<\/p>\n<p>Over on the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico received 1,188,253 votes, or 52.8 percent, against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, whose 1,034,096 votes gave her 45.9 percent of the votes cast.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Candidates had to achieve 50 percent plus one support to avoid a runoff, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/5757469-cornyn-paxton-gop-runoff-texas-senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In February, the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Cornyn was &ldquo;the only Republican candidate who reliably wins a general election matchup&rdquo; and that Texas &ldquo;cannot afford to be a gamble&rdquo; in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet framed the contest as &ldquo;a David vs. Goliath race.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/strong-turnout-in-frances-high-stakes-elections-as-support-for-the-far-right-grows-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Strong turnout in France\u2019s high-stakes elections as support for the far right grows - Washington Examiner\">people don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t understand just what a David vs. Goliath race Paxton is running against Cornyn.<\/p>\n<p>He&rsquo;s been outspent 33:1 according to his internal tracking, and he&rsquo;s still going to win.<\/p>\n<p>This would be one of the biggest upsets in U.S. Senate history if he pulls it off. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/740B3JdFB9\">pic.twitter.com\/740B3JdFB9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewKolvet\/status\/2029030814944555050?\">March 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AndrewKolvet\/status\/2029030814944555050\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">claimed<\/a> in a post on X that Paxton, who was supported by Turning Point USA, had &ldquo;been outspent 33:1 according to his internal tracking, and he&rsquo;s still going to win.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This would be one of the biggest upsets in U.S. Senate history if he pulls it off,&rdquo; Kolvet wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn had argued he was the better choice to avoid Democrats flipping the seat, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/combustible-republican-senate-primary-texas-heading-overtime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m the nominee, I&rsquo;ll help President Trump by making sure that we carry the five new congressional seats as well as maintain this Senate seat and will help him continue his agenda through the last two years of his term of office,&rdquo; Cornyn said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If the Democrats win, because we nominate a flawed candidate with incredible baggage like the attorney general, then that last two years of [Trump&rsquo;s] agenda is jeopardized, as well as everybody down ballot that we need to continue to elect as Republicans,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Cornyn-Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-reportedly-planning-an-executive-order-on-firearms-right-out-of-the-gate-but-his-big-bold-changes-wont-stop-there\/\" title=\"Biden ...ortedly Planning an Executive Order on Firearms Right Out of the Gate, But His \u2018Big, Bold Changes\u2019 Won\u2019t Stop There\">gun control<\/a> bill:<\/p>\n<p>Expanded background checks for military aged gun owners and young single mothers under 21, digging into previously sealed juvenile records, including psychiatric data. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kqqTVhX5MS\">pic.twitter.com\/kqqTVhX5MS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; National Association for Gun Rights (@gunrights) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gunrights\/status\/1909369342468235484?\">April 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Paxton said that Cornyn&rsquo;s record, which included support for a gun control measure supported by former President Joe Biden, will be his downfall.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As we head into this runoff, we&rsquo;re going to make the choice even clearer. While John Cornyn was cutting deals on gun control and amnesty, I was suing corrupt Joe Biden over 107 times,&rdquo; Paxton said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. With about 94% of precincts reporting, Cornyn led Paxton 41.9% to 40.7%\u2014roughly 897,187 votes for Cornyn and 871,672 for Paxton. Rep. Wesley Hunt was in third with about 289,403 votes (13.5%), while all other candidates accounted for about 3.9%.<\/p>\n<p>On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico led with about 1,188,253 votes (52.8%), ahead of Rep. Jasmine Crockett with roughly 1,034,096 votes (45.9%).<\/p>\n<p>Supporters and analysts weighed in on the race. Turning Point USA\u2019s Andrew Kolvet framed Paxton\u2019s challenge as a David-versus-Goliath showdown, noting Paxton had been outspent 33-to-1 according to internal figures yet could still win, a scenario he said would be one of the biggest upsets in U.S. Senate history if it happened. Cornyn, meanwhile, argued he was the better choice to prevent a Democratic flip and to help President Trump\u2019s agenda, saying that if the Democratic candidate were nominated it could jeopardize two years of Republican goals and down-ballot races. Paxton countered that Cornyn\u2019s record includes supporting gun-control measures, and he claimed he had sued President Biden 107 times as part of his contrast with Cornyn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2575989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-03-04T092005.016.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33926,45064,38244,72429,37104],"class_list":["post-2575988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campaign-finance","tag-john-cornyn","tag-ken-paxton","tag-runoff-election","tag-texas-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-03-04T092005.016.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2575988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2575992,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575988\/revisions\/2575992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2575989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2575988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2575988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2575988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}