When President Donald Trump endorsed Texas attorney general Ken Paxton earlier this month in his race to unseat four-term GOP Sen. John Cornyn, it fell to Lindsey Graham—as it so often does—to say the loud part loudest.

Sure, Cornyn is Graham’s colleague. And Paxton is a scandal-plagued hack lawyer who has been impeached by members of his own party; forced to take remedial ethics classes; admitted to breaking securities law; reported to the FBI by his employees; investigated by own his state bar association; and whose wife has filed for divorce on “Biblical grounds.” But what Graham actually feared about the prospect of Paxton winning their primary was telling. “I think we’ll win Texas no matter what,” the South Carolina senator told reporters. “The truth of the matter is, Paxton will cost more money.”

For now, it’s Cornyn and his national Republican allies who have just lit giant bags of cash on fire, spending at least $92 million to produce the single worst primary performance for an incumbent Senator in almost fifty years. Next up for Republican funders after Paxton’s victory on Tuesday is an expensive general-election against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico that could help decide control of the chamber.

Paxton’s win was not surprising, with Trump’s late endorsement perhaps more a reflection of the underlying realities than a determinative factor itself. But the margin was nonetheless stunning. Paxton won Republican voters by nearly two-to-one. Of the state’s 254 counties, all but one went for the AG. The exception was tiny Kennedy County—Cornyn carried it 6........

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