Ken Paxton
Texas AG who ousted Sen. Cornyn 63.8%-36% on 26 May despite a 9-to-1 spending gap.
Last refreshed: 1 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can Paxton hold Texas's Senate seat against Talarico's record-breaking Democratic fundraising in November?
Timeline for Ken Paxton
Mentioned in: Letlow routs Fleming by 13.6 points
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Letlow's 15-point lead collapses to a tie
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: MAHA topples two Republican governor hopefuls
US Midterms 2026Won Texas Senate Republican runoff with 63.8% of the vote
US Midterms 2026: Paxton routs Cornyn despite nine-to-one spendCompeted in runoff as Paxton-aligned PAC spending was scrubbed under GOP pressure
US Midterms 2026: Crypto PAC pulls Paxton ad under GOP pressureWho is Ken Paxton running against in the 2026 Texas Senate primary?
What did the Supreme Court decide about Texas congressional maps in 2026?
What is the Fellowship PAC and why is it backing Paxton?
Background
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General since 2015, claimed victory on 27 April 2026 when the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling and cleared Texas's PlanC2333 congressional map for use in the 2026 midterms, two days before the broader Callais ruling. The same 6-3 ideological majority upheld the Republican-drawn map in a decision that analysts said added up to five more Republican-held seats.
Paxton is simultaneously the subject of a crypto-linked campaign finance intervention: Fellowship PAC disclosed $1.75 million in independent expenditures supporting Paxton in his primary runoff against incumbent Senator John Cornyn scheduled for 26 May 2026. The PAC, linked to Tether, pitted crypto capital against the NRSC-preferred candidate Cornyn, drawing Republican leadership inquiries directed at Howard Lutnick over the ghost-ad disclosures.
Paxton's tenure as AG has been defined by confrontation with federal authority: he has filed or joined dozens of suits against Biden and Biden-era regulations, led Texas's amicus in Callais, and survived a failed 2023 impeachment by the Republican-controlled Texas House. The TWIN SCOTUS wins on Texas redistricting and the VRA provide him political ammunition in the Senate primary, where he frames himself as the most aggressive defender of Texas's electoral interests.
Paxton faced the 26 May 2026 Texas Senate runoff against incumbent Senator John Cornyn having lost his key outside-spending support: Fellowship PAC filed a $1.75 million independent expenditure in his favour but then amended the FEC filing to remove the buy under pressure from Trump adviser Chris LaCivita and the NRSC; the ads never aired .
Despite pro-Cornyn forces outspending him roughly nine-to-one overall in a race that cost an estimated $120 million combined, Paxton won decisively: 63.8% to approximately 36%, a 28-point landslide, with Trump endorsing him in the final week . The result echoed Louisiana's Bill Cassidy losing renomination in the same window, prompting comparisons of two establishment Republican senators ousted within roughly twelve days of each other.
Paxton now faces Democratic state representative James Talarico in November, in a seat Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball immediately moved from Likely Republican to Leans Republican. Talarico raised $27 million in Q1 2026, the largest quarterly Senate haul on record in any state, giving Democrats an unusually well-funded challenger in a state Republicans had counted as SAFE.