Texas primary shows that MAGA loves a villain

[marmar]

Texas primary shows that MAGA loves a villain
Ken Paxton’s scandals helped him undermine John Cornyn as the GOP Senate primary goes to a runoff

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published March 4, 2026 7:15AM (EST)


(Salon) On paper, John Cornyn should be unbeatable in a Republican primary race. Since he first took office in 2002, the senior senator from Texas has been a right-wing stalwart. He swiftly made a name for himself in 2004 by comparing same-sex marriage to a “union of man and box turtle.” In the Donald Trump era, Cornyn has been a loyal MAGA soldier, backing every ridiculous Trump nominee to the Cabinet and voting in line with the president’s agenda over 99% of the time.

....(snip)....

As it turns out, that is not what the Lone Star State’s GOP primary voters wanted. On Tuesday, a slim plurality of Republican voters picked Cornyn as the nominee in November’s Senate race, a dismal result that sends the contest into a run-off against MAGA firebrand Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general. As of Wednesday morning, with 93% of votes counted, Cornyn had received 41.8%, with Paxton trailing close behind at 40.8. Rep. Wesley Hunt, a latecomer to the race who was an early backer of Trump in 2024, earned 13.5% of the vote and will not advance to the run-off. The election, which will take place May 26 with early voting beginning six days earlier, promises to get ugly.

Were Paxton to prevail in May, he would be a nightmare candidate for the GOP in such an important election. He’s a bundle of red flags and, at a vantage point from outside the reality distortion field that is the MAGA movement, Paxton has no discernible upsides. But as we have learned, in today’s Republican Party, scandal and corruption don’t hurt candidates. To the contrary: Being the worst has become a selling point to GOP voters, who conflate odious behavior with being a “fighter” on behalf of their increasingly tribalistic interests.

....(snip)....

On top of the relentless odor of scandal emanating from Paxton, his actions in office would likely alienate swing voters in a general election. He loves wasting taxpayer money on go-nowhere lawsuits that excite bigots and conspiracy theorists, but that annoy everyone else. He targeted Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue over false claims that Tylenol causes autism. He went after a school district for not forcing the Ten Commandments on students. He sued to overturn the 2020 presidential election by block swing states from having their votes for Joe Biden counted. He’s repeatedly filed suit against out-of-state doctors for prescribing abortion pills to women in Texas. He tried to stop community organizers from registering people of color to vote. .......................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/03/04/texas-primary-shows-that-maga-loves-a-villain/

[SSJVegeta]

1. Dang so paxton can still finish slightly ahead before the runoff

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. What can we do to help Paxton win his runoff?

Short of sending money.

If Paxton wins the runoff, Talarico’s odds of winning in November go up significantly.

[sop]

3. "Being the worst has become a selling point to GOP voters, who conflate odious behavior with being a 'fighter'

on behalf of their increasingly tribalistic interests." That's the most accurate summary of our current political situation I've read in quite a while.

[leftstreet]

4. +1

very quotable

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Disbelief as Trump tries to torpedo high-stakes GOP primary: 'Sure, why have people vote?'

trump is going to endorse either Cornyn or Paxton and then demand that the other candidate drop out of the runoff. trump does not like elections. If trump endorses Paxton, I do not see Cornyn dropping out. If trump endorses Cornyn, Paxton may drop out but I would not count on it.

Disbelief as Trump tries to torpedo high-stakes GOP primary: 'Sure, why have people vote?'

Why "disbelief" when the authoritarian acts in accordance with his very well-known fundamental nature??! 🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽

www.rawstory.com/trump-texas-...

— br00t4c (@br00t4c.bsky.social) 2026-03-04T20:49:20.821Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-texas-2675554382/

President Donald Trump made it known on Wednesday that he wants to take a major election decision away from Republican voters in Texas — and the internet had serious reactions to his comments.

Trump has threatened to interfere in elections before, or flat out cancel them, but after a tight primary race in the Lone Star state between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the president promised an endorsement — but only on the condition that the loser of his choice drop out. A GOP runoff election was slated for May 26, as neither candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote.

"The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas, a State I LOVE and won 3 times in Record Numbers (the HIGHEST vote ever recorded, by far!!!), cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer," Trump posted Wednesday. "IT MUST STOP NOW!"....

"Good thing there's nothing dictatorial-sounding about that," progressive political activist Carol Norris wrote on Bluesky.

"Sure, why have people vote?" Retired Professor Emeritus of Immunology and Genomic Medicine, Jim Hagman, Ph.D., wrote on X.

[Melon]

6. Both republicans are horrible.