Texans voted in dozens of critical primaries on Tuesday, leading to bitter defeat for some national political figures and strong results for multiple state level politicians seeking higher office.
Here’s how one night transformed the Texas political scene.
Cornyn Survives GOP Senate Primary
Tuesday’s Senate primary results solidified the Republican Senate primary around two candidates: multi-decade incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Cornyn, facing off against two primary challengers, finished in first place with almost 42% of the reported vote as of Wednesday. Coming in a close second was Paxton, who received almost 41%.
In a distant third place was Rep. Wesley Hunt, a 44-year-old, two-term congressman who received under 14% of the vote.
Cornyn and Paxton will now advance to a final runoff election on May 26.
Trump did not endorse a candidate in the primary. Turning Point Action, the political advocacy group founded by the now-deceased conservative activist Charlie Kirk, endorsed Paxton in his bid to unseat Cornyn.
Paxton criticized Cornyn throughout the campaign for past bipartisan deals on issues such as gun control, as well as his disagreements with Trump.
Cornyn’s campaign conversely slammed Paxton for the circumstances surrounding his divorce proceedings, as well as past accusations of corruption.
Paxton was acquitted in 2023 by the state Senate of all articles of impeachment relating to corruption allegations.
On Wednesday Trump posted on social media that the primary race “MUST STOP NOW” and announced he will soon be making an endorsement, asking that the candidate who does not receive the endorsement “DROP OUT OF THE RACE.”
Austin Defeats D.C. in Democrat Showdown
In the Democrat Senate primary, the state capitol defeated the federal capitol.
Democrat state Rep. James Talarico, who has built a social media following as a critic of Republican leadership in both Austin and Washington, comfortably defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas to become the party’s nominee in the race.
As of Wednesday morning, Talarico received nearly 53% of the vote against Crockett, who fell just shy of 46%. Crockett conceded to Talarico Wednesday morning,
Crenshaw Unseated
In a major upset, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, lost his congressional seat by a wide margin.
State Rep. Steve Toth, who challenged Crenshaw’s conservative bona fides, received the endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, late in the race, who praised him in campaign spots.
Toth appeared on commentator Tucker Carlson’s show in October of 2025, where he laid out his case to represent the Houston-area district. He had the backing of the Freedom Caucus Fund, a political action committee which supports very conservative House candidates.
Trump did not make an endorsement in the race. Toth will now face off against Democrat nominee Shaun Finnie in the district which Crenshaw won by almost 30 points in 2024.
Attorney General
With Paxton seeking election to the Senate, Texans will have to decide who will be the top law enforcement official in the Lonestar State.
State Sen. Mayes Middleton finished first in the Republican primary with over 39% of the vote.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy finished in second place with almost 32% of the vote. The two will now advance to the May runoff election.
Middleton and Roy will battle over plenty of votes. The next two highest vote-getters, state Sen. Joan Huffman and Aaron Reitz, received nearly 30% of the vote combined.
In the Democrat Attorney General primary, state Sen. Nathan Johnson and Joe Jaworski will advance to a runoff election.
