Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Paxton Wins GOP Nomination for US Senate
John Cornyn has spent 24 years as a US Senator from the State of Texas. Yesterday, that career came to a crashing end as Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton beat him by almost 2-1. This was a run-off that was required because no candidate won 50%+1 of the vote in the first round. Mr. Cornyn won 42% of the vote in the first round to Mr. Paxton at 40.5%. Another 8% for Mr. Cornyn would have prevented all this unpleasantness. However, he did not make it across the line, and Mr. Trump prefers a corrupt, full-blown MAGAt to a hanger-on from the old Bush Machine. The question now is just how much slime are the people of Texas prepared to accept from a US Senator.
The New York Times reported,
Mr. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has been accused of adultery by his wife of 38 years, Angela Paxton, who last year filed for divorce "on biblical grounds." He's been indicted on charges of felony securities fraud, and he's been impeached, too -- with votes from members of his own party -- on allegations of bribery, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice and abuse of the public trust, and other misdeeds.
While the Texas State Senate failed to convict him, it is telling that a sitting GOP AG faced impeachment in the lower house where the GOP holds a substantial majority.
What ultimately wrecked Mr. Cornyn's chances was a statement he made in May 2023, when he said, "Trump's time has passed him by." For a thin-skinned, egomaniac like the president, this was unforgivable. So, the president endorsed the toxic Mr. Paxton, putting the seat in play for the Democrats.
The Democrats have nominated James Talarico, who seems to be a moderate Democrat who spends a lot of time in church. The man is not particularly interesting from a policy standpoint; plain vanilla Democratic policies rather than radical proposals are what he offers. And in Texas, that dog might hunt, to use a local phrase meaning it might work.
Despite the GOP choosing a man like AG Paxton, the race will be close with the Republicans having the pole position. Texas is not Democratic country. An analyst once said that a political map of the state looks like four blueberries (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin) in a bowl of tomato soup; four blue spots in a sea of red. If Texans vote on a straight party line, Mr. Paxton will be the next US Senator for the state. But will they?
For some GOP voters, the idea of ever voting for a Democrat is a violation of their sense of identity. They are tribal about politics, and pond scum like Mr. Paxton will still get their votes over Mr. Talarico, who has committed the grave sin of not being a Republican. At best, Mr. Talarico will run a campaign that has these people staying home out of embarrassment.
Them, there are the GOP voters who like the old guard Bush team, the people who backed Mr. Cornyn yesterday. Some of them are persuadable, and there are just enough of them to give Mr. Talarico a path to victory in November.
That said, one must accept that Texas is not a place that swings between parties. The last Democrat to hold state-wide office was Governor Ann Richards, who left the governor's mansion in 1995 and who died almost 20 years ago. Barring some unforeseen gaffe on either side, this will be a close race, but one must prefer the chances of Mr. Paxton to Mr. Talarico. It is just friendlier territory.
At the same time, the Republicans will have to spend tens of millions to win a seat that should be theirs without a fight. The primary cost $130 million. One expects the GOP to have to spend at least $200 million. That is money that will not go to Maine, North Carolina or Michigan, where the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia says the races are toss-ups. It makes the Senate take-over by the Democrats slightly less implausible.
© Copyright 2026 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No pa of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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