Texas AG Ken Paxton defeats Sen. John Cornyn for GOP Senate runoff

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will defeat incumbent John Cornyn for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, ABC-7 projected Tuesday. He will face Democratic state Representative James Talarico in November.

As of 9:35 p.m., with 93% of precincts reporting votes, Attorney General Paxton held the lead with 64% of votes (810,896 at the time). Sen. Cornyn had 455,144 votes at the time.

Paxton gave his victory speech in Plano, Texas, Tuesday night thanking voters and President Donald Trump for their support.

"I want to thank every single Texans. And I want to let them know that I want to earn your support," Paxton said. "Tonight is not the end of a campaign. Tonight is the beginning of the fight to preserve every value we hold dear. The future of Texas and the future of America is on the line, and I intend to do everything I can to expand our movement."

President Trump endorsed Paxton in the Senate GOP runoff May 19.

Sen. Cornyn has been the Senator for Texas for more than 23 years.

Reacting to Paxton's projected win, Sen. Cornyn said, "I've said throughout this race that I trust the voters of Texas. And they've made their decision and I must respect it."

In a social media post, Democratic nominee Talarico thanked Sen. Cornyn for his time representing Texas.

"We don’t agree on everything, but we both still believe in public service," Rep. Talarico said on X.

ABC-7 has live election results here.