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.

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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.

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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/