John Cornyn

Paxton’s blowout win on Tuesday compelled an alliance by necessity, if not natural synergy, between the attorney general and the Washington groups that spent months trying to elect John Cornyn.

Texas voters decided party nominees for U.S. Senate, attorney general, and lieutenant governor, along with several congressional and local races.

John Cornyn is trying to fend off Ken Paxton. Both parties are picking attorney general nominees. And an oil and gas regulatory race has become uncharacteristically costly.

The incumbent senator and his allies have massively outspent the pro-Paxton side, though polling points to a tight finish in the May 26 election.

The Austin Democrat, who won his party's nomination in March, led Cornyn and Paxton by margins of 3 and 5 percentage points, respectively. Both results were within the survey's margin of error.

Both Republican candidates lagged far behind Democratic candidate James Talarico.

The president could still weigh in over the next seven weeks. But his inaction before last month's dropout deadline has only hardened the rivalry.

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, has wrapped in Grapevine, Texas. The event included speeches from Texas officials — including Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. Mayes Middleton — all current candidates for statewide office.

Texas State Representative Brent Money has formed the Sharia Free Texas Caucus, aligning with previous efforts by Texas Republicans targeting the Muslim community.

Neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton cleared the 50% threshold in the Texas GOP Senate primary, forcing a costly runoff while Democratic nominee James Talarico gains additional time to campaign ahead of November.