Democrat Texas candidate for U.S. Senate James Talarico asked supporters of the defeated Republican incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), to join his campaign as he prepares to face the GOP nominee, Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Tuesday night Republican runoff was called by the Associated Press for Paxton at 9:00 p.m., giving Cornyn the boot after serving in the U.S. Senate for over two decades. As of 10:00 p.m., Paxton had 63.2 percent of the vote over Cornyn’s 36.8 percent, with 60 percent of the votes counted.
Talarico, the far-left state legislator who beat U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (R-TX) in the Democrat primary, immediately took to X to make a bid to Cornyn’s voters:
“I want to thank Senator John Cornyn for his years representing our state. We don’t agree on everything, but we both still believe in public service,” Talarico wrote. “To Senator Cornyn’s supporters: you have a place in our campaign.”
The Democrat then posted a video accusing Paxton, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump late in the race, of being the “most corrupt politician in America.”
“It’s time to come together: The People vs. Ken Paxton,” Talarico captioned the video, in another plea for Republicans to join his side:
Paxton himself released a simple message on X in the hour after the race was called in his favor, writing, “Thank you, Texas. Together, we just made history.”
“Now, we must unite to defeat the most well-funded, radical Democrat in America. Join my team and donate to get in the fight,” the attorney general added, along with a link to his fundraising page.
Talarico raised a staggering $40.3 million since launching his campaign in September 2025, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Cornyn, while raising far less than Talarico, still out-fundraised Paxton by a large margin. The incumbent senator raked in more than $26 million since January 2025, while Paxton raised just about $8 million.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
