politics
Ken Paxton Wins Texas Republican Senate Primary Runoff With Over 63 Percent
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the May 26 Republican primary runoff. He will face Democratic nominee James Talarico in the November general election.
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Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for the Texas U.S. Senate seat in the May 26 runoff election with more than 63 percent of the vote. Paxton had entered the race to challenge incumbent Senator John Cornyn.
The main pro-Paxton super PAC, Lone Star Liberty, raised less than $10 million since April 2025. The pro-Cornyn super PAC raised more than three times that amount over the same period with support from at least 14 billionaires. Paxton secured backing from at least four billionaires as of May 6.
Darwin Deason, who died in December 2025, contributed $217,000 to Paxton groups; his wealth came from cofounding Affiliated Computer Services, sold to Xerox in 2010 for more than $6 billion. Dan and Staci Wilks donated $14,000 total; their combined net worth is $2.3 billion from natural gas. Kenny and Lisa Troutt gave $14,000 total; their combined net worth is $1.7 billion from telecom.
Tarek Mansour donated $7,000; his net worth is $2.6 billion from prediction markets as CEO and cofounder of Kalshi. Paxton is scheduled to face Democratic nominee James Talarico in the November general election. Talarico received primary campaign support from at least seven billionaires.
