Overview
- Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination in the Texas Senate runoff, defeating Sen. John Cornyn in the contest that decided the GOP candidate for the November general election.
- President Trump’s late endorsement of Paxton was credited with shifting momentum in the runoff and helping Paxton overtake the long-serving incumbent.
- On Friday, Cornyn posted the scorpion-and-frog fable on X and a Winston Churchill quote, and he told Mediaite the posts were “just a discussion starter for now.”
- The fable post drew immediate online reaction, with many users and commentators reading it as a public sign of betrayal aimed at Trump, Paxton, or primary voters.
- Paxton enters the general election carrying past controversies — including a 2023 impeachment by the Texas House, a whistleblower settlement, and other legal disputes — a record Democrats plan to use and that analysts say makes the November race more competitive and could force Republicans to reallocate resources.