President Donald Trump appeared panicked over the Texas results on Tuesday after the Republican primary race headed to a nasty and costly runoff, while Democrats had record turnout.
The president held off on endorsing in the race between Sen. John Cornyn and Republican challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before the primary.
Republicans and outside groups fueled $100 million into the race making it the most expensive Senate primary ever, but neither candidate received the necessary 50 percent to avoid the runoff on May 26.
On Wednesday, Trump signaled that the brutal infighting that took place during the primary could not stretch on for another three months as Republicans look to defend their majorities.
“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. IT MUST STOP NOW!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The president went on to attack Democratic nominee James Talarico, a former public school teacher and state representative, who campaigned on a progressive platform that also included messaging about his faith on the trail. He won his primary outright as Democrats set their sights on flipping the state blue.
“We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!” Trump declared. “Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough.”
The president ranted in his post that one of the Republican candidates has to be “PERFECT!” and argued his endorsement would put one of them over the top.
“My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable! It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot, especially in Texas! I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!!”
While many of the president’s endorsed candidates won their primaries, the Texas agriculture commissioner, Sid Miller, did not. Scandal-plagued Rep. Tony Gonzales also trailed his primary opponent as their race heads toward a runoff despite Trump’s backing.
The president did not reveal whether he would back Cornyn or Paxton, but The Atlantic reported he’s expected to throw his support behind the four-term incumbent senator.
The Republican Senate campaign arm in Washington, D.C., has been fiercely backing Cornyn, 74, from the start and has repeatedly argued he is the candidate more likely to win in the general election as Paxton, 63, has faced allegations of infidelity and corruption.
The latest primary vote count shows Cornyn, the establishment candidate, leading by just under 42 percent to Paxton’s 40.7 percent after the Texas attorney general tried to cast himself as the more pro-MAGA and Trump-aligned candidate.
It comes as Democrats saw record turnout for a Democratic Senate primary. More than 2.3 million voters cast ballots in the Democratic Senate election.
The final official vote tallies have yet to be released, but more Texans voted in the Democratic Senate primary than the Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, where 2.1 million cast ballots, despite both races being competitive.
Democrats also outperformed Republicans in early voting in the state for the first time in more than 20 years. Overall, Democrats voted at the highest levels in any primary since Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton faced off in the 2008 presidential primary.
In heavily Hispanic Zapata County, turnout for the Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday even surpassed Kamala Harris’s 2024 general election turnout.
Talarico’s opponent, Jasmine Crockett, was quick to call for party unity on Wednesday morning and vowed to do everything she could to help the 36-year-old breakout star win in November.
Despite Democrats’ early enthusiasm, they face an uphill climb in Texas. No Democrat has won statewide since 1994, and no Democrat has won the Senate race in the state since 1988.
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