Democrats see red meat in Paxton primary blowout

▪ Dems get their desired target in Texas

▪ Trump says physical went ‘perfectly’

▪ Cabinet meeting amid Iran negotiations

▪ Southern states’ redistricting tit-for-tat

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may have trounced Sen. John Cornyn (R) for the GOP nomination for Senate, but Democrats are feeling like the big winner from Texas’s primary results Tuesday night.

The controversial Paxton’s victory sets up the general election matchup Democrats believe gives them their best chance in decades of flipping the Lonestar State, rallying around Democratic nominee James Talarico, who quickly released his first video for the general election.

“If we the people can come together to defeat the most corrupt politician in America, we can defeat this entire corrupt system,” Talarico said in the direct-to-camera spot.

In one sign of Democrats’ boosted odds, the election handicapper Cook Political Report shifted its rating of the Texas Senate race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” following Paxton’s primary win.

“Given the national environment, this is a race that certainly may have become competitive even if Cornyn had won, but Paxton’s flaws warrant an immediate move to the Lean column,” Cook Political Report Senate and governors editor Jessica Taylor wrote in her analysis explaining the move.

As Taylor notes, Democrats were already eyeing Texas as a potential pickup opportunity. Their lead in the generic congressional ballot has been widening recently, currently standing at more than 7 points, according to Decision Desk HQ.

But they have long viewed Paxton as their ideal opponent.

He has been surrounded by controversy since soon after he first took office as state attorney general, indicted in 2015 on allegations that he defrauded investors in a tech start-up. Paxton maintained his innocence but ultimately agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution as part of a settlement to end the case in 2024.

Paxton was impeached by the Texas state House the year before over allegations of misusing his office to benefit a friend and real estate developer who was a donor to his campaign. He was ultimately acquitted by the state Senate.

He’s also faced more personal controversy, as his wife, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce from him last year, accusing him of adultery in her filing.

Cornyn spent tens of millions of dollars in the primary attacking Paxton over the controversies, and Democrats are picking up where he left off.

“To Senator Cornyn’s supporters: you have a place in our campaign,” Talarico said in a post on the social platform X.

Cornyn, who previously wouldn’t say whether he would support Paxton if he won the nomination, didn’t mention his opponent in his concession speech Tuesday, but he said he would support “the Republican ticket.”

But the GOP will have its work cut out for itself to unify the party, as the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm has spent months lambasting Paxton in an attempt to boost Cornyn.

The GOP attacks on Talarico for being too liberal for Texas have already begun, with ads highlighting his past comments on culture wars issues like transgender rights and abortion.

Paxton’s win may also reverberate well beyond his fight with Talarico. Cornyn warned his opponent would set back Republicans down the ticket. And the GOP will need to spend big to help Paxton get across the finish line in November, funds that could be spent on other key Senate races.

▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Texas’s primary runoffs.

▪ NBC News: Cornyn undone after years as loyal party man.

▪ The Hill: Democrat accused of antisemitism defeated in House runoff

Two incumbent House Democrats were defeated for renomination Tuesday, as Rep. Al Green lost to fellow Rep. Christian Menefee and Rep. Julie Johnson lost to her predecessor, former Rep. Colin Allred. The Democrats were forced to oppose each other because of Texas’s new congressional map.

A major defense........

© The Hill