Gun Rights Turncoat John Cornyn Can’t Seal the Deal in the Texas GOP Senate Primary

In Tuesday’s primary in Texas, Republican voters delivered a stinging slap to long-time incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn.  Despite drowning in establishment cash, wielding decades of name recognition, and boasting endorsements from the old guard, Cornyn couldn’t seal the deal in the three-way race.

He finished with barely over 40% of the vote, just ahead of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Meanwhile Rep. Wesley Hunt came in a distant third. No outright winner, but the message was clear: Cornyn’s Senate throne, thought to be untouchable, is perilously close to being lost. A May 26 runoff with Paxton now looms as quite possibly his political funeral.

What hurt him most? In addition to his GOPe reputation, his stance on guns has been his Achilles heel. Cornyn’s unforgivable 2022 betrayal of gun owners was top of mind for Texas GOP voters. After Uvalde, he threw in with prominent gun-hater Chris Murphy to co-author the disastrous Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

That bill, which Cornyn worked to pass into law, pushed expanded background checks for under-21 buyers, dangled federal incentives for red-flag confiscations without any initial due process, and last but not least, royally pissed off gun owners in Texas, igniting a firestorm among Texas’s massive Second Amendment faithful.

Cornyn represents Texas, after all. Home of the Alamo and millions who carry daily, hunt, and see any inch given to the gun control industry as surrender to tyrants. Cornyn wasn’t just compromised, he sold out gun rights to the DC cocktail-party crowd. Paxton never let voters forget it.

As if that wasn’t enough, Paxton’s campaign created a slew of AI campaign ads depicting Cornyn dancing with liberal lunatic Rep. Jasmine Crockett — who ran and lost on the Democrat side of the primary — while she talked about what a great partner John Cornyn has been. In other words, “reaching across the aisle” was given a whole new meaning.

Cornyn’s camp, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, used Paxton’s problematic record—securities fraud charges, impeachment acquittal, whistleblower scandals—as proof of unfitness. But to Paxton’s supporters, those were desperate ploys by Cornyn’s swamp allies to kneecap someone who agrees with them on the issues. The AG shrugged them off as badges of honor in a war against the establishment. “They come after me because I’m coming after them,” Paxton roared, and the crowds ate it up.

Now Cornyn is staring down the barrel of a runoff. His war chest is still well stocked, but momentum bleeds away daily. Paxton’s near-miss will likely encourage his supporters. Gun owners aren’t just motivated, they want revenge. In Texas, where liberty and firearms are sacred, betraying the Second Amendment isn’t a policy disagreement—it’s treason.

The senator who thought voters would forget after four years and that he could play both sides may finally pay the ultimate price.

FoxNews has more:

The expensive and contentious battle for the Republican Senate nomination in Texas is headed to a May runoff, after none of the three major candidates in the crowded field of contenders topped 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary election.

Longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn will face off with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after they finished in the top two in the primary, with Rep. Wesley Hunt in third place, the Associated Press reports.

The winner will face off with either rising star state Rep. James Talarcio or progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a vocal critic and foil of President Donald Trump, who were vying for the Democratic Senate nomination. Both are trying to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win a Senate election in right-leaning Texas.