So much Trump winning. So much Republican losing.
After 24 years in the U.S. Senate, John Cornyn of Texas is being shown the door by his own party.
The longtime conservative Republican put up a fight, but Tuesday night primary voters in the Lone Star State did not give him a soft “it’s time to move on.”
Cornyn lost to state Attorney General Ken Paxton by 27 points.
Most Republicans in Washington preferred Cornyn, who was seen as the surer bet in November. There was a Texas-sized list of negative ads reminding voters of Paxton’s past controversies. But nevermind that, or maybe commend that, if you are President Donald Trump. He endorsed Paxton last week.
Runoffs are unusual, but you do not usually see such a lopsided drop in voter sentiment, especially about an incumbent.
Cornyn’s support fell significantly from March, when he earned more than 900,000 votes. This week, that number dropped to just more than 500,00.
Cornyn now joins a list of Republicans Trump has unseated so far in 2026.
Trump has ousted these Republicans in the primaries:
- Five Indiana state senators. Five GOP state senators are out of jobs after Trump-endorsed candidates defeated them in primaries. All five voted to block Trump’s proposal to redraw Indiana’s congressional maps.
- Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. The Trump-backed candidate easily defeated Massie last week. The fiery libertarian has confronted and challenged Trump for years on a host of differences, including the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and the Epstein files.
- Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The man who refused to “find 11,780 votes” at Trump’s request in 2020 lost his race for governor to two men who have denied Trump lost that race. The candidate Trump endorsed, Burt Jones, is in a runoff.
- Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Trump ardently took on the incumbent senator who voted to convict him in Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial. Cassidy placed third in his primary, losing his seat two weeks ago.
- And now Cornyn.
While these are but nine lawmakers, they are all high-profile Republicans who defied Trump and in doing so became his political targets.
When have Trump primary endorsements failed this year?
- One or two Indiana state senators survived. One targeted senator, Greg Goode, easily won against a Trump challenger. Another, Spencer Deery, is facing a recount after defeating his Trump-backed opponent by a razor-thin three votes.
- One Indiana state representative lost. Trump’s endorsement of Indiana Rep. Bruce Borders was not enough to keep him in the job. He lost by 10 points to an opponent he faced two years ago.
- A North Carolina senate leader lost. State Senator Phil Berger fell just 23 votes short in his primary. He was the top Republican in the chamber and ran heavily on Trump’s endorsement.
As you can see, two of these Trump losses were incredibly close. (One in Indiana going into extra innings.)
A summary of the Trump primary record so far: Incumbents rarely lose when he endorses them. And they rarely win when he endorses someone else.
