Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, roped in John Cornyn in a high stakes rodeo. This was a show of Trump’s power in the Republican party.

Cornyn falls in bitter Texas Senate Republican runoff that tested Trump’s grip on the party

PLANO, TX – President Donald Trump and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are the big winners in the Lone Star State’s bitter Republican Senate primary battle, which has spanned for more than a year and became the most expensive Senate primary in history.

Paxton, who was endorsed by Trump just one week ago, convincingly defeated longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday’s runoff election for the Republican nomination.

Paxton now faces off against state Rep. James Talarico — a rising star in the Democratic Party — in the general election in a race that is among a handful that may decide if the Republicans hold their slim 53-47 majority in the Senate. Talarico, who topped progressive star Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a vocal Trump critic, in the March primary, is trying to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win a Senate election in Texas