This was a total anti-climax.
Still a crook any way you look
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated veteran U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP runoff Tuesday, toppling the four-term incumbent in a fierce duel that centered on who was more loyal to President Donald Trump.
Early results show Paxton led Cornyn in almost every major county in a race that saw high participation, with early voting returns more than tripling the early ballots cast in 2024. The Associated Press called the contest at 8 p.m.
Paxton will now face off against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the November election, setting up what is expected to be one of the most competitive general elections in Texas since the 1990s.
The outcome also marks what could be the end of a long political career for the 74-year-old Cornyn, who was seeking his fifth term in the U.S. Senate.
Speaking in Austin on Tuesday night, Cornyn said while his campaign “came up short,” he would support Paxton in the general election in November.
“I’ve said throughout this race I trust the voters of Texas,” he said. “They’ve made their decision and I must respect it.”
Well, the voters sure as heck didn’t respect you, John. You didn’t seem to exhibit much in the way of self-respect in running this campaign, either. Paxton was winning 63-37 early on, so it’s hard to say that the Trump endorsement made any difference. The whole thing was humiliating from the get go. If he ran a campaign that reflected who he’s always been over the past thirty or so years, I’d feel some sympathy for John Cornyn, who certainly did a lot of things while in public office. But he didn’t, he debased himself constantly trying to get Trump’s endorsement, and in the end this is what he got. He earned it. The Trib, the NYT, and TPM have more.
Elsewhere on the Republican side, Mayes Middleton was leading to be the next fascist Attorney General, while the even more fascist Bo French had an early but perhaps not insurmountable lead for Railroad Commissioner. Even GregAbbott thinks he’s terrible, but only because he’s worried French might lose. Don’t worry, the billionaires will tell Abbott what he really thinks.
On the Democratic side, Vikki Goodwin cruised to victory in the Lite Guv runoff, while Nathan Johnson was leading for AG. You better be ready to spend some money to beat Mayes Middleton, Nathan.
Oh, and while Ken Paxton will soon be out of state government, his stench will linger.
UPDATE: Speaking of stenches:
Bo French declared victory over Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in the primary runoff Tuesday night, in a campaign where French prioritized issues like fighting DEI and Sharia Law over traditional regulatory issues.
French is poised to face Democrat state Rep. Jon Rosenthal in the November general election. A Democrat has not held a seat on the railroad commission in decades.
[…]
A former Tarrant County GOP chairman, French espouses some of the most extreme views among Texas Republican officials, even as the party has pivoted further to the right in recent years. Earlier this year, French called on his party to more openly embrace Islamophobia and said the U.S. should deport 100 million people, nearly a third of the country’s population and a number that suggests he wants to deport U.S. citizens.
He has drawn the ire of members of his own party for his unapologetically offensive posts on social media often using slurs to refer to people with mental disabilities and LGBTQ+ people. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called on him to resign from his county chairmanship after French posted a social media poll asking whether Jews or Muslims were a bigger threat to America.
Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, all endorsed his opponent.
We all know how much that will mean now.