Senator John Cornyn, a veteran institutionalist and long-time pillar of the Republican Senate establishment, lost his primary election to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday night. The decisive defeat, fueled by a late-stage endorsement from Donald Trump and a surge in anti-incumbency sentiment, marks a significant shift in the Texas GOP‘s power structure. The outcome underscores the deepening influence of the populist right within the party, effectively ending the career of a lawmaker who spent years shaping national policy through traditional deal-making.
The End of an Institutional Era
Cornyn’s loss represents a stark departure from the era of
