John Cornyn is trying to fend off Ken Paxton. Both parties are picking attorney general nominees. And an oil and gas regulatory race has become uncharacteristically costly.
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If you find an error, email Three runoff elections in Texas are of particular interest. Top left: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn . Middle left: U.S. Rep.
Chip Roy, vying for state attorney general against state Sen. Mayes Middleton . Bottom left: incumbent Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, who faces challenger Bo French . Photos by Kaylee Greenlee, Chris Stokes, Ronaldo Bolaños, Eli Hartman, Pete Garcia, Lorianne Willett and Joel Angel Juarez for the Texas TribuneTuesday to pick their party’s nominees in an array of runoffs, capping one of the liveliest primary seasons in the state’s recent political history.
Several statewide, congressional and legislative contests required an overtime round between the top two finishers in various races after no candidate received a majority of the votes in the March primary. The bruising Republican primary for U.S. Senate between incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will finally come to an end tonight, after more than $135 million in ad spending and a buzzer-beating endorsement from President Donald Trump.
The two Republicans — neither of whom has ever lost an election — have been locked in a heavyweight bout for over a year. Cornyn, a four-term senator seeking a fifth, beat Paxton in the primary by a narrow margin, but a runoff period was triggered when neither candidate cleared the 50% mark.
In the months since March 3, Trump pledged to endorse swiftly but then kept both campaigns on ice, despite repeated overtures — especially from the Senate Republican establishment, who see Cornyn as the safer bet in the general election. At the last minute, the president weighed in for Paxton, giving the loyal attorney general his stamp of approval one week before election day.
Cornyn and Paxton have fought bitterly over their records, electability, levels of conservatism, allegiance to Trump and personal character. Cornyn, who calls himself a Reagan Republican, says GOP control of Texas is at stake. Paxton, who has pledged to take a sledgehammer to the Republican establishment, says he is the fighter better aligned with Trump’s Make America Great Again base.in the runoff.
Middleton has put almost $17 million of his own money into pushing his “MAGA Mayes” message, touting his allegiance to President Donald Trump and conservative causes. Middleton and his slate of powerful endorsers, including— Middleton is a lawyer, but has worked exclusively for his family oil and gas company, while Roy was a federal prosecutor and first assistant at the attorney general’s office.
He’s gottenengine room for the national effort to push conservative causes through the courtsof Dallas nearly won his party’s nomination outright, but fell just short of the 50% threshold. He is facing former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski to determine who will vie for the chance to reclaim the office for the blue team. Each promises to restore the strength of the office’s apolitical functions and use the agency to support Democrats’ litigation aimed at reining in Trump.
Primaries for a seat on the state’s Railroad Commission, the regulatory state agency that oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry, are typically sleepy affairs.that is testing the limits of the majority party’s far right flank and caused apprehension among some that a victory for the far-right candidate could create an opening for a Democrat to win statewide office.
Former Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French, who has long made controversial, racist and antisemitic statements, is challenging Commissioner Jim Wright, who is entering election day with endorsements from top GOP officials including French’s campaign has been bankrolled by some of the biggest hardline conservative donors in the state: oil billionaire Tim Dunn, his son Luke Dunn, and Farris Wilk, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state. Wright, meanwhile, received a massive $500,000 donation from casino magnate Miriam Adelson.
Dallas real estate giant Harlan Crow also gave the incumbent $10,000. French has often come under scrutiny, including from his GOP peers, for his remarks like asking on social media last summer whether Jews or Muslims posed a greater risk to the nation. At a conservative conference this spring, he called for the deportations of 100 million people. Wright knocked French for campaigning on social issues — like the “Islamification” of Texas — that the commission has no authority over.
Gabby Birenbaum is the Washington Correspondent for the Texas Tribune. She covers the Texas congressional delegation and the impact of federal policy on Texas. Gabby previously covered Washington for The... Eleanor Klibanoff is the law and politics reporter, based in Austin, where she covers the the Texas Legislature, the Office of the Attorney General, state and federal courts and politics writ large.
She... Alejandro Serrano writes about Texas politics and government, with a focus on immigration and education issues. Since joining the Tribune, he has helped investigate the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, lived...
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