ArcaMax

It was a Texas-size blowout. In the Texas Republican runoff on May 26, scandal-plagued, Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton crushed longtime Republican incumbent John Cornyn, 63.8 to 36.2. Thank you, Donald Trump.

For anybody who doesn’t worship Donald Trump – meaning the vast majority of Americans – it’s been a long time since we’ve had any good political news. So, how sweet it is to see a Democrat’s dream come true. As every poll showed, Democratic candidate James Talarico had a better shot at beating Paxton than Cornyn. Paxton’s victory in the runoff increases Talarico’s odds of winning in November from a possibility to a likelihood.

Talarico himself could not have picked a better opponent. He’s young, articulate, a highly-respected state legislator with nary a scandal in his life, and a Presbyterian seminarian who knows Scripture and can talk Jesus better than any phony MAGA preacher.

Paxton’s just the opposite. He was indicted for massive financial fraud and faced 99 years in prison until he agreed to a plea deal. He was caught on camera stealing a $1,000 Montblanc pen at the county courthouse. He was impeached by members of his own party. And his wife sued for divorce because of serial adultery or, as she colorfully put it, “on biblical grounds.”

Financial fraud? Theft? Lying? Impeachment? Adultery? Sound familiar? Now you know why Trump endorsed him. Because Paxton’s just like him. Paxton is Texas Trump!

Indeed, Talarico won’t have to spend money making his own ads against Paxton. He can just borrow earlier ads posted by the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee, like this one: “A lot of people who trust Ken Paxton get lied to, so it isn’t shocking to learn he is also cheating on his taxes and personal finances. Ken Paxton’s betrayals of the public trust just keep coming.” Or this one: “What Ken Paxton has put his family through is truly repulsive and disgusting.”

Talarico could also replay a Cornyn TV commercial mocking Paxton’s use of the alias “Dave P” to arrange trysts with his mistresses. An AI-generated video shows Paxton driving by a highway sign reading “15 miles to Ken’s Love Shack,” as the announcer says: "On May 26th, Texans will order ‘Dave P’ a one-way ride to his ‘Love Shack’ – far away from the nation’s capital."

At the same time, no matter how badly Trump treated him, don’t shed any tears for John Cornyn. For 10 years, even though he knew better, Cornyn was one of Trump’s most fawning supporters. Lacking the guts to oppose him publicly, Cornyn just played along, believing he could trust Trump to reward his puppy-dog loyalty.

The worst was on Jan. 6, 2021, when – after Trump-inspired rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, attacked police officers and sent members of Congress, including Cornyn, running for their lives, the cowardly Cornyn voted with Mitch McConnell not to convict Trump and thereby get rid of him once and for all.

In the end, Cornyn became so desperate to get Trump’s endorsement he released a video of himself reading Trump’s book “Art of the Deal” and introduced legislation to rename several Texas highways after Trump. How pathetic. So how did Trump reward Cornyn for sucking up to him for 10 years? He stabbed him in the back. Cornyn got just what he deserved.

Now here’s the good news. Thanks again to Donald Trump, Texas is in play. The outcome of this race could well determine control of the U.S. Senate. Though let’s not kid ourselves. It’s an uphill battle. Texas is still a red state. Texas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since Lloyd Bentsen won in 1988. And Paxton can count on Trump’s MAGA base.

But MAGA alone won’t elect Paxton. Only 1.3 million voted in the Republican primary, of whom Paxton won 887,435 votes. But there are 18.6 million total Texas voters, and now in November, they’ve been offered a clear choice: between the old and the young, the corrupt and the clean, the crook and the seminarian. That gives Talarico a great opportunity. This is now a winnable race. This could bring Texas back into Democratic ranks, where it belongs.

And it’s about time. Texas is not about George Bush, Ted Cruz or John Cornyn. Texas is home to some of this country’s greatest Democrats: Sam Rayburn, LBJ, Lloyd Bentsen, Ann Richards, Molly Ivers, Barbara Jordan, Jim Hightower, Kinky Friedman and Beto O’Rourke. James Talarico could be the one to turn Texas blue again.

(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.)

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.