Cornyn Seeks to Overcome Senators’ Shaky Success Rate in Runoffs

March 5, 2026, 8:50 PM UTC

An endorsement from President Donald Trump would elevate Sen. John Cornyn in a Texas Republican runoff against state Attorney General Ken Paxton. It may not be decisive.

Trump teased an imminent endorsement after Cornyn won 42% compared with Paxton’s 41% in a March 3 party contest that produced no majority-vote nominee. While Cornyn’s performance was underwhelming for a four-term senator, he may have exceeded expectations by slightly outperforming some polls that suggested Paxton would place first.

That may be good enough to win over the president, who also said he’d urge the candidate he doesn’t back to withdraw from ...

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