A bitter primary contest between the four-term Republican US senator John Cornyn and the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, ended in a runoff on Tuesday.
In Texas, a primary runoff is declared if neither candidate are able to capture 50% of the vote. Paxton and Cornyn will now face that election on 26 May.
Speaking to reporters in Austin, Cornyn said he had “worked for decades to build the Republican party, both here in Texas and nationally” and refused to allow a “flawed, self centered and shameless candidate” like the scandal-scarred Paxton to “risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years”.
“Judgment day is coming for Ken Paxton,” Cornyn said.
Paxton is likely to win the runoff election, getting most of the other non-incumbent’s voters. He is a particularly corrupt and scandal-plagued politician. He would be up against Talarico, a relatively progressive Democrat who codes as moderate due to frequently invoking his Christian faith. This presents a rare opportunity for Democrats to pick up a senate seat in a red state. If nothing else, it will force Republicans to spend a lot more money on the race than they’d like, especially after funding the primaries and the runoff between Paxton and Cornyn.
I find it strange how in the US “moderate” involves frequently invoking Christian faith. Here in Europe that’d be seen as right wing conservative behaviour.
As much as it’s not apparent in the way the majority of Christians act, if they actually followed any of the actual biblical tenets, they’d be pretty far left. While it’s framed through a biblical lens, Talarico supports trans/immigrant/minority rights (love thy neighbor, etc.), explicitly anti-wealth (camel passing through the eye of a needle), and is overall insanely progressive coming from a place like Texas.
As it would in California. But in Texas, the median voter is very Christian.
Andy Beshear is gonna wield the same thing in the presidential race.