Ken Paxton confident in May runoff win, says Texas deserves better than Cornyn
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will take the U.S. Senate seat from incumbent John Cornyn in the runoff on May 26.
When Paxton came to the microphone at 10 p.m. Tuesday night at his Dallas watch party, he said the results send a clear message to Washington, D.C.: “We are not going to go quietly, and we are not going to let you buy the seat.”
With 75% of the vote counted, Cornyn led with 42.5% of the vote to Paxton’s 40.7%. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston had 13.1%.
Spending in the U.S. Senate primary was in the tens of millions and broke records as the most expensive primary race in history. Cornyn and Democrat Texas Rep. James Talarico were the big spenders in their primary races.
“Now, John Cornyn is going to try to steal the election with another $100 million going into this Senate race,” Paxton said. “But here’s what we proved tonight. While the money may be on this side, people always win.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Ken Paxton confident in May runoff win, says Texas deserves better than Cornyn."