Paxton, Cornyn head to Texas GOP runoff after Wesley Hunt finishes third

Austin, Texas The expensive and contentious battle for the Republican Senate nomination in Texas is headed to a runoff in May, after none of the three leading candidates in the crowded field of contenders surpassed 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.

Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn will face off with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after they finished in the top two in the primary, with Rep. Wesley Hunt in third place, according to unofficial primary results.

The winner will face either controversial progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett, an outspoken critic and opposition figure to the president Donald Trumpor rising state star James Talarchio, who were vying for the Democratic Senate nomination. Both were trying to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win Senate elections in the right-leaning state of Texas.

Senate this year Showdown in Texas She is one of the few across the country who can determine whether Republicans will maintain their majority in the chamber in the midterm elections. The GOP currently controls the chamber 53-47.

the Cornyn campaign Allied political action committees spent nearly $100 million to run ads attacking Paxton and Hunt, with the senator charging in the final weeks of the primary campaign that Democrats would flip their seat in the general election if Paxton was the GOP nominee.

Cornyn and his allies National Republican Senatorial Committeethe Republican Party’s Senate campaign arm, has repeatedly pointed to a series of scandals and legal problems that have plagued Paxton over the past decade, as well as his ongoing messy divorce.

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“If I am the nominee, I will help President Trump by making sure we get the five new seats in Congress and also keep that Senate seat, and I will help him continue his agenda through the last two years of his term,” Cornyn said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Sunday.

Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, speaks during a campaign event in The Woodlands, Texas, Saturday, February 28, 2026. (Annie Mulligan/AP Photo)

“If the Democrats win, because we nominated a flawed candidate who carries incredible burdens as attorney general, the last two years of [Trump’s] “The agenda is at risk, and so are all the ballot participants we need to continue to get elected as Republicans.”

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Paxton, MAGA brand who have garnered significant national attention by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, fired back, telling Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary, “I’m 3-0. I’ve won three statewide races.”

Pointing to public opinion polls that suggest he has a lead over Cornyn, Paxton said: “It’s really easy for him to say that when he loses the primary, because he didn’t give in to the people of Texas, and tomorrow he’ll find out what that means. He’ll end up losing.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Republican Senate candidate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event on the eve of the primary election, in Waco, Texas, on March 2, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“The idea that I can’t win a race is not true,” Paxton added. “There is no evidence that what he is saying is true. In fact, the evidence is quite the opposite.”

Paxton gained support a few weeks ago thanks to the endorsement of the political wing of Turning Point USA, the powerful grassroots conservative organization long run by the late Charlie Kirk.

The Republican nomination battle was a one-on-one race even Hunt, a West Point graduate A military veteran who flew helicopters during his service and represents a strongly red district in suburban Houston, he announced his candidacy last fall.

“I think there will be a runoff, no matter what happens,” Cornyn predicted on Sunday.

Speaking to supporters on the eve of the primary, Paxton said, “If we go to a runoff, the odds get better for me,” as he noted what would likely be a smaller voter turnout in the May 26 runoff.

Republican Senate candidate Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, at a primary campaign eve event, in Houston, Texas on March 2, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

In an interview with Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary, Hunt said he was “the best candidate to win the primary and win the general.”

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Referring to the negative ads from Cornyn and his allies targeting him over the past two weeks, Hunt said: “They spent tens of millions of dollars against me in the state of Texas, which means I have to do the right thing, and I have to be a threat. D.C. is not going to decide who the next senator from Texas will be. The people of Texas will, and that’s why I got into this race.”

But Hunt failed to reach third place.

Trump, whose influence over the Republican Party remains enormous, has so far remained neutral in the Republican primaries. The three candidates, who sought the president’s endorsement, were present on Friday as Trump held an event in… Corpus Christi, Texas.

“They’re in a little race together,” Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. “You know that, right? There’s a bit of a race. It’ll be interesting, right? They’re both great people too.”

Trump also praised Hunt, saying the three contenders had an “interesting election.”

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, at a Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 27, 2026. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

While Trump remained neutral, chief pollster Tony Fabrizio helped Cornyn’s campaign. Veteran Republican strategist Chris Lacivita, who served as co-manager of Trump’s 2024 White House campaign, has also consulted with a super PAC aligned with Cornyn.

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The two big questions as the runoff campaign gets underway are whether Trump will get his endorsement, and whether the major outside groups that backed Cornyn will continue to pour resources into the expanded nomination fight.

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