Paxton, Talarico Prepare for Expensive Texas Senate Race

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton decisively defeated Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), setting up a general election contest that won’t be cheap.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at an event with his supporters during the Texas Senate Primary in Magnolia, Texas, on Feb. 19, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—Texas’s costly Senate primary season is over. Now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and State Rep. James Talarico are getting ready for the big fight—the general election.

Buoyed by an endorsement from President Donald Trump, Paxton beat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the May 26 runoff, ousting a multidecade incumbent who once chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, which backed him during the primary and runoff.