Cornyn’s blowout loss exposes polling miss in Texas primary
Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) performance in the Texas Senate GOP primary election on Tuesday indicated polling for one of the country’s most closely watched races failed to sufficiently capture the political dynamic.
TL;DR
- Sen. John Cornyn lost the Texas Senate GOP primary runoff to Ken Paxton by a margin of 36.2% to 63.8%.
- Pre-election polls failed to accurately predict the scale of Cornyn's defeat, with most anticipating a much smaller margin.
- A last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump and lower voter turnout for Cornyn were contributing factors to Paxton's victory.
- Paxton gained support from voters who had previously supported Rep. Wesley Hunt, while Cornyn saw a significant decrease in votes cast compared to the March primary.
- Ken Paxton will face Texas state Rep. James Talarico in the general election, with Talarico launching a strong fundraising effort following Paxton's win.