Cornyn predicts Texas runoff with Paxton in tight Senate primary

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) this week predicted his Republican primary battle to retain his Texas Senate seat would end in a runoff election with state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Cornyn, Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) are engaged in a bitter three-way battle to win the March 3 primary. Cornyn said this week that he expected the primary to head to a runoff between himself and Paxton, given that it appears highly unlikely any candidate can win the tight race outright. Ahead of the November general election, the incumbent senator warned that Paxton’s “baggage” risked handing the “very competitive” race to Democrats, giving them the first blue U.S. Senate seat in the state in decades.