Who are the big winners and losers in Texas primary runoffs? | Opinion
Tuesday was a big night for Ken Paxton and other MAGA Republicans as the parties settle their last internal fights before turning to the fall battle. The results tell you who won and lost on the ballot, but we’ll tell you who really came out ahead and who took it on the chin.
WINNERS
Donald Trump: The president is the undisputed king of the Republican Party. We knew this, of course, but John Cornyn’s huge loss proves that Republican primary voters want absolute loyalists for Trump’s final two years and beyond. Cornyn voted with Trump nearly all the time, touted his leadership and pushed to name a highway for him. But he dared question Trump a few years ago, and that’s all the opening that Paxton needed, along with general antipathy toward long-time incumbents.
Ken Paxton: The three-term attorney general shares one important trait with the president he worships: He is incapable of shame. That superpower paid off big Tuesday. Battered by impeachment, clear evidence of corruption and a messy public divorce, Paxton saw his survival as an opportunity and targeted a candidate few would have seen as vulnerable.
James Talarico: The Democratic nominee would much rather run against Paxton than Cornyn, even if he can’t say it. Republicans will wave around polls showing Paxton with a lead (for now) and point to Paxton’s huge win Tuesday night as evidence that Republican enthusiasm for their nominee is strong. That might be true, but a midterm election favors the out-of-power party, and independents have yet to have their say. For years, they gave Cornyn huge margins of victory. Whether that transfers to Paxton is an open question.
Graham Platner: Who? The Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine. He’s a stand-in for eventual nominees in Iowa, Alaska, Ohio, take your pick. These candidates will benefit because national Republicans will have to devote more time and attention to helping Paxton win to keep the Texas seat in GOP hands. That means fewer resources to defend other seats, let alone trying to expand the majority in places such as Michigan.
Platner, with his Nazi tattoo and horrific comments about sexual assault, should be an easy mark for veteran GOP Sen. Susan Collins, but more money spent on Paxton means less available for her and other Republicans.
LOSERS
Businesses: One of Paxton’s tactics for raising his profile and pleasing populist voters has been to ramp up the activity of his office in targeting businesses, educational institutions and local governments. Netflix, Lululemon, Tylenol — no matter how popular or useful a product, if Paxton could growl and try to intimidate a corporation over data collection or specious science, he grabbed at the opportunity. Texas CEOs: Keep your heads down for the next few months.
Texas Muslims: Republicans have been screeching about the supposed plot by Muslims to establish communities and impose Sharia law that would threaten to supersede American jurisprudence. It’s not even close to true, as indicated by the continued failure to point to a single specific example or case. But candidates such as Paxton rode the message to victory in primaries, so you can bet the scapegoating will continue, as long as there are votes to be driven by fear.
Donald Trump: The president is running out of time to log significant legislative achievements in his second term. He’ll need not just a GOP Senate to do it; he’ll need Republican senators willing to cooperate. And he’s making enemies, with Cornyn the second incumbent whose career he helped crush in the span of a couple of weeks after Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his primary.
MAGA Republicans will crow about Trump’s reach in the party, and they’re right. But he’s losing the support of anyone beyond his base. If that prompts more Republicans to stand up for congressional prerogatives, Trump’s final stretch will be that much harder and less productive.
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 8:19 PM.
