{"id":2607574,"date":"2026-05-27T18:59:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-backs-paxton-after-divisive-texas-primary\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T18:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:59:31","slug":"thune-backs-paxton-after-divisive-texas-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-backs-paxton-after-divisive-texas-primary\/","title":{"rendered":"Thune backs Paxton after divisive Texas primary"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/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%2Fthune-backs-paxton-after-divisive-texas-primary%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=2607574&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>Senate Majority Leader John Thune backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after Paxton defeated Sen.John Cornyn in the Republican primary, signaling a growing Republican effort to coalesce around Paxton ahead of the November <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/impossible-gop-picked-up-seats-in-house-picked-up-state-legislatures-picked-up-governorship-held-the-senate-but-sniffy-joe-won-not-a-chance\/\" title=\"IMPOSSIBLE: GOP Picked Up Seats in House, Picked Up State Legislatures, Picked Up Governorship, Held the ... ...... But Sniffy Joe Won?... NOT A CHANCE\">general election<\/a>.Thune said Republicans must \u201cpivot\u201d and go all-in to keep Texas red and ensure Paxton wins against Democratic nominee state Rep. James Talarico.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton\u2019s primary win came by a wide margin, aided by a late endorsement from President Donald Trump. While polls now suggest a close race in the general election, lingering bitterness over the primary and Paxton\u2019s ethics controversies-along with his 2023 impeachment on corruption charges-are expected to create challenges for Republicans and opportunities for Democrats. Earlier endorsements from other Senate Republicans, including John Barrasso and Bernie Moreno, had already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/labour-mp-scraps-leadership-challenge-but-demands-starmer-exit-by-september\/\" title=\"Labour MP scraps leadership challenge but demands Starmer exit by September\">begun rallying support<\/a> for Paxton.  <\/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<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Majority Leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-thune\/\">John Thune<\/a> (R-SD) threw his support behind Texas Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ken-paxton\/\">Ken Paxton<\/a> on Wednesday, bringing Senate leadership one step closer to coalescing around a Republican they <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >spent months<\/a> trying to defeat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thune endorsed Paxton on the heels of his victory against Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\">John Cornyn<\/a> (R-TX), telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that Republicans need to \u201cpivot\u201d if they hope to win Texas in November.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4584542\/republicans-will-rally-around-paxton-lauren-green\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Republicans will \u2018rally\u2019 around Paxton: Lauren Green<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4584410\/maha-ken-paxton-warrior-gabrielle-etzel\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>MAHA sees Paxton as \u2018warrior\u2019 for its cause: Gabrielle Etzel<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4584311\/graham-platner-lead-susan-collins-9-points-maine-senate-poll\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Graham Platner leads Susan Collins by 9 points in Maine Senate race: Poll<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an incumbent, Cornyn had Thune\u2019s backing and advanced to Tuesday\u2019s runoff with the help of tens of millions spent by allied groups. The support was not enough to keep Cornyn in office, however, and Paxton, aided by a late endorsement from President Donald Trump, ran away with the primary vote on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-real-clear-politics-say-they-never-called-pennsylvania\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Real Clear Politics ...... SAY THEY NEVER CALLED PENNSYLVANIA\">election night<\/a>, defeating Cornyn by 28 points. <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paxton will now face state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate, in the general election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cKen Paxton is our nominee heading into November, and we\u2019ve got to pivot and go all-in to make sure that we keep Texas red, that he wins, and that we keep a far-left liberal out of the United States Senate,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of now, polls show Paxton in a tight race with Talarico, and the bitterness of the primary will be difficult to shake. Senate Republicans spent months focusing on Paxton\u2019s ethics scandals, including his 2023 impeachment on corruption charges, and Democrats are preparing to seize on that division.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some Republicans got an early jump on endorsing Paxton, including Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the No 2. Senate Republican. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), a front-runner to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee next cycle, was the first to back him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4583632\/james-talarico-and-ken-paxton-court-the-cornyn-vote\/\"><strong>JAMES TALARICO AND KEN PAXTON COURT THE CORNYN VOTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thune, for his part, disclosed that he called Paxton after his victory, though the party is still dealing with the awkwardness, and the NRSC itself has not addressed Cornyn\u2019s loss directly. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It released a Tuesday night statement targeting Talarico but made no mention of either candidate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thune backs Texas AG Ken Paxton after his Cornyn win, urging Republicans to pivot to win Texas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2607575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP25181678457592.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[45064,38244,18466,56924,37104],"class_list":["post-2607574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-john-cornyn","tag-ken-paxton","tag-paxton","tag-republican-primary","tag-texas-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP25181678457592.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607574","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\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2607574"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2607578,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607574\/revisions\/2607578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2607575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2607574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2607574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2607574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}