Trump endorses Paxton in Texas senate race

[cloudbase]

Source: Washington Post

President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary, a reversal of his earlier plan to endorse Sen. John Cornyn — and a victory for Trump’s MAGA base.

Trump announced his endorsement of Paxton over Cornyn, the 23-year incumbent, after waffling for months on how to proceed. The runoff election between the two men is next week, and early balloting has already begun.

Trump’s political advisers and top Senate leadership in Washington had urged Trump to back Cornyn, arguing that Paxton has too much personal baggage and would be a weak general election candidate in a once solidly red state that has become increasingly worrying for Republicans. Paxton has been dogged by scandals involving accusations of infidelity and misuse of public funds. He was impeached in 2023 by the Republican-majority Texas House but acquitted by the state Senate.

Paxton, however, has remained a loyal ally of Trump for years, including championing Trump’s false claims of winning the 2020 presidential election.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/05/19/trump-endorses-paxton-texas-senate-primary-over-incumbent-cornyn/

[Ocelot II]

1. And the Talarico campaign rejoices...

[lostincalifornia]

11. If paxton is the their nominee, and Talarico doesn't win, then Texas is completely a lost cause.

[Polybius]

14. I agree

Yet there will still be the usual crowd here saying "Texas is in play" in 2028.

[lostincalifornia]

17. Of course. If anyone could win, against Paxton, it would be Talarico

Actually the corruption of Paxton should mean anyone should be able to beat him.

It will be quite interesting if he gets the republican nomination.

[AZLD4Candidate]

18. This is Texas. Until it happens, Texas IS a lost cause.

[lostincalifornia]

2. If Texas rethugs actually nominate this degenerate, the rethugs in Texas are as demented as Paxton is.

[hamsterjill]

8. And they are, unfortunately.

Trust me... they are.

[Skittles]

9. IF???

[ananda]

15. What makes you think they aren't already?

They put him, Abbott, and Patrick in office
already --

the trifecta of evil.

[rurallib]

3. A criminal endorses a criminal - how very mafia-esque

[Skittles]

10. it was always the biggest Trump whore who would "win" the endorsement

I do think it helps Talarico; the differences between him and Ken Fucking Paxton are GLARING.

[Cheezoholic]

4. Paxton must have put a "deposit" down on a 1k FatAss phones via crypto n/t

[mdbl]

5. Of course he did. Crooks and Liars have to stick together.

[msongs]

6. possibly more about punishing cornyn...other wise he cares not

[Torchlight]

7. Odds are he desires a lackey

[Skittles]

12. FAFO, Cornyn

how did all that Trump humping work out for you

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. MaddowBlog-Trump's endorsement of Texas' Paxton delights Democrats, frustrates Republicans

The Texas attorney general was understandably happy to get the president’s support. Oddly enough, Democrats were thrilled, too.

Why did Trump give up on electability concerns and shift from Cornyn to Paxton?

Maybe because after orchestrating defeats for Cassidy and Indiana state senators, he’s leaning into his “I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want, for any reason I want” attitude, without regard for the consequences.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-19T21:04:06.145Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-paxton-endorsement-cornyn-senate-talarico-democrats

In early March, Donald Trump said he would “soon” issue an endorsement in the Republican Senate primary in Texas, adding that he expected the other candidate to drop out of the race after failing to receive his support. Two days later, The Washington Post reported the president had made up his mind: He would endorse Sen. John Cornyn over his intraparty rival, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, ahead of their May 26 runoff election.

The ostensible decision made sense, since GOP officials were in broad agreement that Cornyn was a safer bet in the general election. For a president terrified of accountability, it wasn’t too surprising that he was prepared to back the incumbent, if for no other reason than to improve the party’s odds of keeping the seat and preventing a Democratic-led Senate....

One day later, the president proved him wrong. MS NOW reported:

President Donald Trump endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff on Tuesday, ending months of public neutrality in a race that could help determine the balance of power in Congress.

“I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, touting Paxton’s support for ending the filibuster and passing the SAVE America Act. “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate.”

.....We’ll learn soon enough how GOP voters in Texas respond, but stepping back, there are a couple of angles to keep in mind. First, it’s worth appreciating that many Republicans still believe Paxton can win (Texas is a red state, after all) but because of his many scandals and awful reputation, the party will have to spend heavily in the hopes of getting him across the finish line in the fall. Every penny Republicans have to spend to hold onto a seat in the Lone Star State is money they won’t have to spend elsewhere.

A Paxton primary victory would create a competitive race in a state GOP officials weren’t prepared to worry about.

Second, it’s not yet clear how and why Trump shifted from Cornyn to Paxton, but it’s easy to imagine that the president is increasingly emboldened after orchestrating the defeat of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and several GOP state senators in Indiana.

Or put another way, Trump appears to have embraced a “I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want, for any reason I want” attitude, without any real regard for whether his decisions help himself or his party. Watch this space.

I live in Texas. I tend to watch MS NOW but when I have the news or other network programs on (Jeopardy), I am amazed at the negative ads. Cornyn has more ads on and they are really nasty. Paxton is an asshole and the Cornyn ads are very effective. This is going to get even nastier as we get close to the primary runoff

[Old Crank]

16. No surprise

Supports a philandering phoney Christian. A died in the fecal matter Rape-publican.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. Trump endorsement makes Dem Senate candidate the favorite in deep red state

Paxton is a major league asshole with a ton of dirt. Until yesterday, Cornyn was running some very effective attack ads on Paxton. There have been at least two Cornyn ads attacking Paxton for every one Paxton ad. Talarico is a great candidate and we may flip Texas blue

Trump endorsement makes Dem Senate candidate the favorite in deep red state #RawStory

— #TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2026-05-19T18:44:22.000Z

https://www.rawstory.com/talarico-trump-paxton/

President Donald Trump's endorsement of Republican Ken Paxton on Tuesday could backfire in the Texas Senate primary race — putting Democrat Rep. James Talarico in the lead for the first time, according to a Kalshi Prediction Market report.

Kalshi has signaled that the president's move could flip the ruby-red Senate seat to blue.

"The Trump endorsement likely carries clear, quantifiable weight in Paxton's chances, as shown by the absurd 40% rise in odds of Paxton's chances to win the nomination," Kalshi reported.

"Likely as a result, traders in the market on the general election for the open Senate seat in Texas have perceived this as good news for James Talarico, who is now favored for the first time ever," according to Kalshi.

If elected, Talarico would be the first Democrat to hold a Senate seat in Texas since 1993.