Paxton Gives Cornyn Boot in GOP Runoff
as Middleton Wins and French Has Lead
Texas Primary Runoff Predictions - General Election Rankings
Texas Primary Runoff & General Election Polls
Capitol Inside
May 26, 2026
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ousted veteran U.S. Senator John Cornyn in a primary runoff election on Tuesday night with an eleventh-hour boost from an endorsement that President Donald Trump dangled in front of the incumbent for months before bestowing it on the challenger in the stretch.
Paxton had scored more than 63 percent of the vote when NBC News projected him to be the winner with a lead of almost 25 points over the lawmaker who'd held the Texas Senate for two dozen years. The state lawyer's victory in overtime set the stage for a showdown with Austin Democrat James Talarico in the general election in a race that the Democratic Party may have an even chance to win in the fall.
State Senator Mayes Middleton of Galveston defeated U.S. Rep. Chip Roy in the battle for the GOP nomination in the race to replace Paxton at the attorney general's office. Former Tarrant County GOP Chairman Bo French appeared poised to unseat Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright as an apparent down-ballot beneficiary of Paxton coattails. Middleton led Roy by 15 points with almost 57 percent of the overtime vote while French was up on Wright by 5 points in the RRC contest on the GOP runoff ballot. Wright's lead shrunk to 2 points, however, late Tuesday night in a contest that remained too close to call.
Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick both campaigned vigorously for Wright amid warnings that French would be a drag on the Republican ticket this fall as a result of extreme views and bombastic rhetoric that's become a trademark. .
Democratic State Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin crushed runoff rival Marcos Velez with 70 percent of the running count in a fight for the nomination in the race for the Texas Senate president's post. Goodwin will square off with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick in November. Middleton will face State Senator Nathan Johnson of Dallas in the fall after an easy win that he scored over Joe Jaworski on Tuesday night in the AG's race.
There were few surprises on the Texas congressional and legislative battlefields in round two.
* Alex Mealer won the GOP nomination for an open Congressional District 9 race in the Houston area when she clobbered State Rep. Briscoe Cain with 69 percent of the vote in the running tally tonight. CD 9 is one of five blue Texas districts that Republicans in Austin redrew for themselves in a map they approved last summer at Trump's request. Abbott stumped for Cain in the waning stages of the CD 9 runoff. But Mealer had Trump in her corner for the fight in the district she'll be a substantial favorite to win in November.
* Democrat Johnny Garcia claimed the nomination in Congressional District 35 as the runner-up in March in a fight with Maureen Galindo, who talked her way to defeat with wild rants about the imprisonment of Zionists and other comments that were construed as antisemetic. CD 35 was targeted as well on the new GOP map for the U.S. House.
* Carlos De La Cruz beat State Rep. John Lujan easily in a GOP runoff in CD 35 - which both parties could have a 50-50 shot at winning this fall if Trump's abysmal polling with Latino voters continues.
* Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred unseated U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson with 55 percent of the vote in the heavily-Democratic Congressional District 33 in the Dallas area. Allred lost a bid for U.S. Senate two years ago. Allred and Johnson both represented Congressional District 32, which was dramatically reconfigured for Republicans.
* U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee of Houston defeated veteran U.S. Rep. Al Green in a Democratic runoff in Congressional District 18. Green shifted to CD 18 after Republicans dismantled his current seat in CD 9.
* Republicans Tom Sell and Jon Bonck won GOP runoffs in Congressional District 19, which is anchored by the Lubbock area, and Congressional District 38 in the Houston respectively. Everitt Jackson defeated Sholdon Daniels in the Democratic primary runoff in an open race for Congressional District 30. All three of those winners were heavy favorites.
* Democratic State Rep. Hubert Vo - a member of the House from Houston for more than 20 years - lost to primary challenger Darlene Breaux in House District 149. But State Rep. Venton Jones of Dallas won easily in a runoff in House District 100.
* Democrat Ozzie Ochoa Jr. claimed the nomination in the race for the Texas House District 37 seat that GOP State Rep. Janie Lopez of San Benito is seeking again in a contest that the Democratic Party is confident it can win.
more to come ...
Rankings Based on Overall Competitiveness, Significance for Fall
and the Candidates' Performances in the March 3 Primary Vote
 Projected Winner GOP |
 Projected Winner Dem |
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STATEWIDE |
| 1 |
U.S. Senate (R)
John Cornyn (I) 42.0%
Ken Paxton 40.5% |
| 2 |
Attorney General (R)
Mayes Middleton 39.1%
Chip Roy 31.6% |
| 3 |
Texas RRC (R)
Jim Wright (I) 32.1%
Bo French 31.8% |
| 4 |
Lieutenant Governor (D)
Vikki Goodwin 48.0%
Marcos Velez 31.5% |
| 5 |
Attorney General (D)
Nathan Johnson 48.1%
Joe Jaworski 26.4% |
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LEGISLATURE |
| 1 |
House District 37 (D)
Ozzie Ochoa Jr. 46.0%
Esmi Cantu-Castle 32.0% |
| 2 |
House District 41 (D)
Julio Salinas 39.0%
Victor Haddad 37.0% |
| 3 |
House District 41 (R)
Sergio Sanchez 46.0%
Gary Groves 38.0% |
| 4 |
House District 149 (D)
Hubert Vo (I) 38.0%
Darlene Breaux 38.0% |
| 5 |
House District 100 (D)
Venton Jones (I) 49.0%
Amanda Richardson 35.0% |
| 6 |
House District 125 (D)
Adrian Reyna 39.0%
Michelle Vela 34.0% |
| 7 |
House District 131 (D)
Staci Childs 45.0%
Lawrene Allen 28.0% |
| 8 |
House District 126 (R)
Stan Stanart 49.0%
Kelly Peterson 29.0% |
| 9 |
House District 49 (D)
Montserrat Garibay 33.0%
Kathie Tovo 28.0% |
| 10 |
House District 97 (D)
Diane Symons 42.0%
Beth McLaugnlin 30.0% |
| 11 |
House District 40 (R)
Celeste Cabrera-Huff 38,0%
Nehemias Gomez 37.0% |
| 12 |
Senate District 19 (R)
Marcus Cardenas 44.0%
Robert Marks Jr. 32.0% |
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CONGRESSIONAL |
| 1 |
Congress District 35 (D)
Maureen Galindo 29.2%
Johnny Garcia 27.0% |
| 2 |
Congress District 35 (R)
John Lujan 33.0%
Carlos De La Cruz 26.8% |
| 3 |
Congress District 9 (R)
Alex Mealer 35.8%
Briscoe Cain 31.2% |
| 4 |
Congress District 33 (D)
Colin Allred 44.0%
Julie Johnson (I) 33.2% |
| 5 |
Congress District 18 (D)
Christian Menefee 46.1%
Al Green (I) 44.2% |
| 6 |
Congress District 19 (R)
Tom Sell 40.4%
Abraham Enriquez 18.8% |
| 7 |
Congress District 32 (R)
Jace Yarbrough 49.0%
Ryan Binkley 21.7% |
| 8 |
Congress District 38 (R)
Jon Bonck 46.8%
Shelly deZevallos 18.8% |
| 9 |
Congress District 30 (R)
Everett Jackson 38.0%
Sholdon Daniels 24.3% |
| 10 |
Congress District 24 (D)
Kevin Burge 48.0%
TJ Ware 26.1% |
| 11 |
Congress District 7 (R)
Alexander Hale 45.3%
Tina Cohen 26.8% |
| 12 |
Congress District 37 (R)
Ge'Nell Gary 35.3%
Lauren Pena 35.0% |
| 13 |
Congress District 5 (D)
Chelsey Hockett 45.9%
Ruth "Truth" Torres 41.6% |
| 14 |
Congress District 16 (R)
Adam Bauman 27.9%
Manuel Barraza 21.1% |
| 15 |
Congress District 33 (R)
Patrick Gillespie 35.5%
John Sims 22.3% |
| 16 |
Congress District 17 (D)
Milah Flores 42.6%
Casey Shepard 32.4% |
| 17 |
Congress District 14 (D)
Richard H. Davis 44.3%
Thurman Bill Bartie 31.3% |
| 18 |
Congress District 1 (D)
Yolanda Prince 44.5%
Dax Alexander 22.0% |
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