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00:07And good evening, I'm Kaitlin Collins, and this is CNN's special coverage of perhaps the biggest primary election of the
00:14entire year.
00:15As we come on the air tonight, the final polls have just closed in the state of Texas, and we
00:21have a major projection.
00:25CNN can now project that the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will defeat the incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn.
00:33It's a huge win for President Trump, who upended this race in recent days by endorsing Paxton and declaring that
00:41Cornyn, who has served in the Senate for 24 years, was not loyal enough to him.
00:46This outcome has major implications for this November, with Democrats sensing an opportunity to win this seat against Paxton, who
00:54has been plagued by scandal during his political career.
00:58Now, Republicans have been deeply worried that they'll have to dump tens of millions of dollars into Ruby Red, Texas,
01:03to keep this seat in Republican hands, something that is an almost unthinkable scenario just a few weeks ago.
01:10And with this major projection, I want to get straight to CNN's anchor and Chief National Correspondent John King, who
01:15is at the Magic Wall.
01:17And John, as we've been watching the numbers come in tonight, I mean, so far, this has been shaping up
01:21to be an incredibly big win for Ken Paxton.
01:25A blowout win. A blowout win, especially when you consider that John Cornyn is a 24-year veteran Republican incumbent
01:31senator.
01:31And once, Kaitlin, I'm old enough to remember, when he was a young rising star in Texas Republican politics.
01:37Now he has been beaten.
01:38CNN is now projecting this race by the attorney general, the mega favorite, and the Donald Trump endorsed, and that's
01:45the big difference in this race here.
01:47I'll show you a little bit what I mean by that.
01:49But Paxton at 63 percent if you round up, Cornyn at 38 percent if you round up, with just about
01:53half of the vote in.
01:55And you just look at this map, Kaitlin, the deeper red, the darker red, that's Paxton red.
02:00Look how many few spots.
02:02One, two, three, four, five, six.
02:05There are 254 counties in the state of Texas.
02:07Some are still gray, meaning we have no votes.
02:09But out of 254, of those where we have votes, only six is John Cornyn leading.
02:14That's all you need to know if you just watch what's happening.
02:17Here in Houston, an urban county, big suburbs.
02:20Harris County is Houston and the suburbs around it.
02:22By far the most populous county.
02:24Ken Paxton is winning with 65 percent of the vote.
02:26If Cornyn were going to have any chance, it was going to be here.
02:29A city, the suburbs around it, where you have more moderate, more establishment Republicans.
02:33Forget about it.
02:3465 to 35 in Harris County.
02:37Then you come up here, Dallas County, the number two county in the state in terms of population.
02:41Yes, Cornyn is leading, Kaitlin, but look, just not enough.
02:44He needs blowouts in these places to have had any prayer to do it.
02:47And then right next door in Tarrant County, which is Fort Worth, the third largest county by population in the
02:52state.
02:53And Paxton winning quite comfortably there.
02:55So Paxton winning, or in the case of Dallas, holding his own in an urban and suburban area.
03:00And then just come out here into rural Texas counties, 72 percent, 71 percent, 64 percent, 55 percent, a little
03:12bit closer there.
03:12But what's interesting about this, Kaitlin, you want to say, did the Trump endorsement have an impact, right?
03:18So just look here tonight.
03:19Look in that area right there.
03:21This is Trump country, Texas.
03:22This is where Trump runs it up with 75, 80 percent, sometimes more than 90 percent in these counties come
03:27November.
03:27That's tonight, right?
03:28That's tonight.
03:29In the primary in this race, just a few weeks ago, when there was no Trump endorsement, look at all
03:33that Cornyn red.
03:35That's a couple weeks ago, before the Trump endorsement.
03:37A lot of Republicans, without their president trying to say which way to go, said, we'll stick with our longtime
03:43incumbent.
03:44And then tonight, post-Trump endorsement, almost across the board.
03:49We're still waiting for some counties.
03:50So, Kaitlin, without a doubt, without a doubt, the Trump endorsement helped Paxton.
03:54And without a doubt, even a lot of Republicans in Texas will tell you, with Paxton as the Republican candidate
04:00in this race, Democrats have a shot.
04:02And it's going to get very, very, very, very, very, very expensive in Texas.
04:06I mean, John, just a week ago, when this endorsement came out, the president, you know, I mean, this was
04:12a highly competitive race until that moment.
04:14And looking at those numbers that you just showed there, I mean, it's remarkable to see that this scenario playing
04:19out tonight was not a given a week ago, even before the president had come in and gotten involved in
04:26the race.
04:26And it gets at the Trump paradox at the moment, Kaitlin.
04:30Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, John Cornyn in Texas tonight, Thomas Massey in Kentucky last week, five of those seven Indiana
04:36state senators in the primary before that.
04:38Republicans who have crossed Trump are getting beaten.
04:41So Trump goes into meetings with his political team saying, I'm strong.
04:44Why do people keep coming in here and telling me I'm weak?
04:46I'm strong.
04:47Look what I'm doing.
04:48Yes, he still has an incredible grip on the most fervent mega Republican base.
04:52And you see it right here in this map tonight at a time he is incredibly strong with the base.
04:57He is at the weakest point of his presidency nationally, which is why this race.
05:02Now, the last time Texas Democrats won statewide was 32 years ago, more than three decades since Texas Democrats have
05:10won statewide.
05:11Does this mean Mr.
05:12Tallarico will meet Mr.
05:13Paxton doesn't mean that at all, but it does mean we have a very competitive race in a state.
05:17The Democrats now think, huh, we think we're going to get the house back.
05:21The math to get the house back is pretty good for the Democrats.
05:23Now, if you look at Maine and Texas and Ohio and maybe Alaska and maybe North Carolina,
05:30Democrats can plausibly look at a Senate map and say, Steve Pill, but we got a chance.
05:35And they think the Republicans helped them in that effort tonight.
05:38John King at the magic wall.
05:40We'll check back in with you as we are watching these numbers and all these other races closely tonight.
05:45My colleague, Arlette Saenz, is at Ken Paxton's campaign headquarters in Texas.
05:49And, Arlette, obviously, I know that you were saying they were feeling confident earlier.
05:54What is the latest you've been hearing from the Paxton campaign tonight?
05:59Well, Caitlin, the mood here at Ken Paxton's runoff crime party has really been jubilant
06:06as the crowd erupted in cheers and whistles when this race was called for their chosen candidate.
06:12Paxton's campaign was feeling incredibly confident heading into tonight.
06:16And a big reason why is because President Donald Trump decided to endorse Paxton in that last-minute decision just
06:23last week.
06:24One GOP source aligned with Paxton telling me that certainly the president's endorsement was a big help.
06:31But this is a remarkable turn of events for Paxton, who had worked for months to try to court
06:36Trump's endorsement over Senator John Cornett, this race really serving as a major test
06:42of the president's grip on the Republican Party.
06:45Paxton has long been popular with the MAGA base here in Texas,
06:49and he ran incredibly closely to the president in his agenda throughout the campaign.
06:54But Cornyn and many GOP senators have expressed frustration and anxiety about Paxton potentially
07:02being the GOP nominee.
07:04Until the very final minutes of this campaign, we heard from Senator John Cornyn trying to argue
07:09that Paxton's personal and legal scandals here in the state, that that would be a liability
07:14for Republicans come November.
07:16The big question is whether general election voters will, in fact, feel that way.
07:20But tonight, Paxton's team is feeling very good as they've gotten him across the finish line
07:25and now are looking forward to that general election matchup against James Tallarico, the Democratic nominee.
07:30Arlette Sines, we'll be checking in with you throughout the hour.
07:33Let us know if we're going to hear from the candidate.
07:35We've also got my political sources here that include a pair of Texans with us tonight.
07:39We've got CNN political commentator and the former Democratic National Committee communications
07:43director, Sochi Hinojosa.
07:45I should point out, her sister is running for governor of Texas as a Democrat.
07:49We also have our CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, Paul Begala, here
07:53with his Longhorns sticker and toe.
07:56And tie.
07:56And his tie.
07:57And my sister's not running for anything yet.
07:58And Scott Jennings, who is not wearing a jacket tonight, but he is wearing a tie, so we'll
08:02let you stay at the table.
08:04I mean, Scott, to John's point of how Ken Paxton is faring in this race and the numbers
08:09are still coming in, this was unthinkable even just maybe two weeks ago for some Republicans.
08:15Yeah, Paxton was running a little bit ahead here, but a little bit ahead.
08:19And then when Donald Trump showed up, it changed everything.
08:22Now, if you go back to the primary results, Cornyn actually narrowly won more votes in
08:27the primary, but there was a third person in the race, a guy named Wesley Hunt.
08:31And obviously, those Wesley Hunt voters didn't want to vote for Cornyn, and most of those
08:34obviously have gone to Paxton.
08:37But look, the bottom line is this.
08:38If Donald Trump wants you to be the nominee of the Republican Party for virtually any office,
08:44he can will it into existence.
08:46And that has happened again tonight in Texas.
08:48There's also an attorney general campaign going on underneath this.
08:51I don't think we've called it yet, but there's a strong undercurrent of who's for Trump and
08:55who isn't in that race.
08:56And it looks like the more Trump-aligned candidate is going to win down there as well.
09:00So, you know, we're learning this lesson over and over again.
09:02Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky, where I live, and now Texas, over and over again, we're learning.
09:09If Donald Trump wants you to have the party's nomination, the voters, look at that and say,
09:13we trust the president's judgment and we'll give it to you.
09:15But, Paul, I mean, I should note when we're hearing this tonight about the concerns of what
09:19this general election matchup is going to look like, it's not coming from Democrats or just
09:24critics of the president.
09:25It's coming from Republicans in his own party who are up on Capitol Hill that are worried
09:29about it.
09:29Right, because they can count.
09:30You know, Trump makes you unbeatable in the primary, but it could make you unelectable
09:34in the general.
09:36We're talking about Texas Senate seat up.
09:39King referred to this, and he's generally wrong about everything.
09:42He's a horrible person.
09:42But he's right about this.
09:44My party, Democrats haven't won anything in Texas in 32 years.
09:48They haven't won a Senate seat in 38 years.
09:50They haven't won a governorship in 36 years.
09:53They haven't carried a presidential candidate in Texas for 50 years.
09:58And we're sitting here saying that Texas is up for grabs, in part because the Democrats
10:03nominated a very strong candidate, James Tallarico, who in the polling right now is 11 points
10:08above water.
10:10His popularity is very high.
10:12Mr. Trump, beloved by Republicans in Texas, the bloom is off the rose on that.
10:16He's underwater, even in my beloved Texas.
10:18Underwater, more unpopular than he is popular in the polling.
10:21So this is the problem that Republicans are going to have now in a state that all they had
10:26to do was fog a mirror and they won Texas.
10:28And now they're going to have to fight like hell and spend hundreds of millions of dollars.
10:32Well, I mean, Ken Paxton is someone who has been MAGA aligned.
10:36He is someone who way before Trump was suing the Obama administration many times.
10:40He actually, I mean, yes, he's been indicted and then had the charges dropped.
10:44He was impeached, then acquitted.
10:45He's never lost an election that he's run, I don't believe, during his political career.
10:51But he's also not an establishment type of candidate.
10:54What's interesting here is that John Cornyn knows how to fundraise.
10:57He knows how to do the things that an establishment Texan would do.
11:01Ken Paxton was not able to raise in this race.
11:04And he does not have a lot of money right now.
11:06I have to admit that tonight, while Tallarico is not on the ballot, my guess is Tallarico
11:11will likely raise more money tonight than Ken Paxton will in a red state.
11:16And it is interesting because the Republican resources will need to come in heavily in a
11:22state like Texas.
11:23And those are resources that they're not going to be spending anywhere else.
11:27Tallarico is well-funded.
11:28Tallarico will continue to raise money.
11:31But it's interesting to me that now Republicans have to worry about deep red Texas because
11:37they have a flawed candidate who does not know how to raise.
11:40And you're now seeing that currently play out.
11:43All these analysis of this race is sort of the differences between what a Cornyn or a
11:48Paxan would look like here.
11:49I'm thinking about the differences between Tallarico and literally every other Texan.
11:54Don't know any Texans who believe in six genders other than Tallarico.
11:58Don't know any Texans who said it's immoral to eat meat other than Tallarico.
12:02Don't know any Texans who walk around saying things, you know, God is non-binary.
12:06You all are both Texans.
12:07Do you know any other Texan who even talks like that?
12:10Issues aside, who says these things out loud?
12:13When this gets adjudicated, all that money coming in from California and New York, it'll
12:18be well spent in Texas.
12:20Do you know what I'm smelling, Scott?
12:21Fear.
12:23Panic.
12:23Fear?
12:24All stinking panic.
12:25You guys are on this.
12:26Fear of a six-gender guy?
12:27You are on this.
12:27He's more popular than Trump in Texas, brother.
12:29Can you explain his position?
12:30He cited a biological study.
12:32It's not his position.
12:32He cited a study.
12:33So you're for it.
12:34So you believe in six genders.
12:35You know what I'm not for?
12:36I'm not for $6.89 hamburger.
12:39Okay?
12:39James actually eats beef.
12:40Okay?
12:41But he can afford to.
12:42Most Texans can't anymore.
12:43Now, can Paxton can, because on a government salary, he's become a millionaire.
12:49How does that happen?
12:50He can afford hamburger.
12:51This is what it's going to be about.
12:52You want it to be about woke.
12:54I want it to be about broke.
12:55I want it to be about.
12:57Are you a normal person?
12:58You just smell the fear.
13:00Are you a normal person?
13:01Six genders and no meat.
13:02It's terror.
13:03It's terror.
13:04Scott is melting down, but that is like the Republican Party right now.
13:08You guys are endorsing the genders.
13:09It's amazing.
13:10You have a...
13:11I'm not endorsing that, and neither is Tallarico.
13:13To be honest.
13:14Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
13:15Hold on.
13:15I'm not a maker of points, Scott.
13:17Let me make my point.
13:18He is an eighth generation white Texas male who loves meat and appeals, talks about the
13:26cost of living in the state, is appealing to a moderate electorate, including Republicans
13:32who don't want to vote for Paxton, and Republicans are running completely scared right
13:37now.
13:38And I think that is...
13:38Just for the record, neither of you can define a gender thing.
13:41When we're talking about morality and values and stuff like that, you have Paxton here,
13:47who was married for almost 40 years, and his wife, who knows him the best, ended their
13:55marriage on biblical grounds.
13:56What does that mean?
13:57I'm a Catholic.
13:58I will say that either means you cheated on your spouse with a man or a woman, or you went
14:04ahead and abused your spouse.
14:05I will say that is, when you're talking about judgment, a woman who knows that, has known
14:11that man for 40 years, that is judgment.
14:13Well, Scott, can I also ask you, I mean, where does the Republican Party in Texas go from
14:16here?
14:17Because John Cornyn, I mean, in his interview that he did with Monty Raju earlier today,
14:22made pretty clear that he's not going to be coming out and endorsing Ken Paxton in this
14:26race.
14:26Well, he said he's going to support the ticket.
14:29There is a question, well, voting for the ticket and endorsing it's another thing, but
14:33there is a question of how much money MAGA is going to have to spend in this race, is
14:36there not?
14:37Yeah, I don't disagree.
14:37It's going to be an expensive race.
14:39I think money will be spent by both sides.
14:41And Tallarico being popular among donors in California and New York and Massachusetts
14:46is never going to wash off the weirdness of the gender thing, of the meat thing, of the
14:53God is non-binary, of the Bible actually, you know, endorses abortion, all of these things.
14:58Wherever you are on the issues, who talks like that?
15:03No Texan that you know actually speaks these things out loud, other than Paul, I guess tonight,
15:09he's latching on.
15:10But no other Texan speaks this way.
15:13Paxton, he'll speak like a normal person.
15:15He'll have positions that are center-right.
15:17But if he's talking about affordability to Paul's point, if he's talking about affordability
15:21to Paul's point, is that something that could be more effective with voters that are worried
15:24about that?
15:25When he talks about cutting taxes, rolling back regulations, and creating jobs, and making
15:29energy prices, that's what he'll talk about.
15:31How did Texan become a millionaire?
15:32He makes $153,000 a year as Attorney General.
15:35When he became a state official, his net worth, according to his own disclosures, was $175,000.
15:42Now he's a multimillionaire.
15:44The Wall Street Journal says he has 11 homes.
15:46That's more than genders.
15:47He's got 11 damn homes.
15:49How did he get so rich?
15:50You know, to Paul's point-
15:51Cook and can is what Senator Cornyn calls him.
15:53To the question of the Republican Party in Texas tonight, the NRSC, the Senate Committee
15:58just put out a statement tonight that does not name Paxton or John Cornyn in this.
16:04It was before the race had been projected.
16:06But it just says a state that the president won by nearly 14 points is not going to elect
16:11James Tallarico, talking about his positions.
16:13But, I mean, they didn't mention either of the Republican candidates in this race.
16:17Yeah.
16:18I mean, I think that's right.
16:19The establishment Republican Party, NRSC, has not backed Paxton.
16:23And it'll be interesting to see whether they're comfortable running ads, what they're doing.
16:28They were going around town, and you know this well, Scott, telling people that if Paxton
16:33won this race, that they were going to have to spend $100 million that they don't have
16:37on this race.
16:38And that seems like a problem.
16:39Let's actually listen to see how John Cornyn himself is responding to this projection tonight.
16:44We work hard for 32 million Texans every day that I'm honored to represent, with long hours,
16:50high stress, and job uncertainty.
16:54I want to express my gratitude to my staff for their incredible professionalism and dedication
16:59to the 32 million people of Texas that I'm honored to represent.
17:05To everyone who's worked with me, alongside of me, for all these many years, I just want
17:12to say, and then to my supporters in this campaign, more than 1,000 current and former elected official
17:20endorsements, more than 30 statewide organizations, to every financial supporter, every volunteer,
17:28everyone who voted for me in this election, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
17:38Tonight, I'm reminded of something Teddy Roosevelt said in 1910.
17:44He said,
17:45that it's not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
17:52or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
17:56The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and blood
18:04and sweat, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again,
18:11because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms,
18:19the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows the,
18:25in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails,
18:32while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be among those cold and timid souls who know
18:39neither victory nor defeat.
18:44A number of years ago, up in West Texas, that's not the region, that's the city,
18:49where there was a terrible catastrophe,
18:52the county commissioner up there said something that stuck with me all these years.
18:57He said, being a Texan doesn't describe where you're from.
19:02It describes who your family is.
19:05And for the past two and a half decades, I have
19:09represented this family in the United States Senate.
19:13During that time, I helped write and pass a number of historic tax reform bills,
19:19focused on building our military
19:22for tomorrow, helping put hundreds of conservative judges on the federal bench,
19:27work to take Washington's boot off the necks
19:31of Texas job creators, and helped tackle some of our nation's most challenging problems.
19:40In this runoff election, approximately eight percent
19:43of registered voters made their voices heard.
19:47And of that eight percent who voted, roughly 60 percent said they were ready for a different direction.
19:55Another reminder that those who show up decide for those who do not.
20:04There's a simple rule in elections, you've heard me say it before,
20:07and that is the candidate who gets the most votes wins.
20:12The party in the majority gets to govern, and my hope is to keep my party in power for generations.
20:22I am an optimist by nature, which is just another way of saying I am a Texan.
20:29I am a Texan.
20:30Yesterday, when I was in San Antonio, where I stood alongside of 109 students
20:36who had been admitted to service academies for this upcoming year,
20:42this was the 20th time that we've had this academy sendoff,
20:47and it remains my favorite event of the year, because these young men and women,
20:52the leaders of our military and our communities in our nation tomorrow,
20:57give me great hope and optimism for our future.
21:05Well, a scripture verse comes to mind as well, where the Apostle Paul said,
21:13I've fought the good fight, I've finished the race, and I've kept the faith.
21:23Over the next seven months of my service in the United States Senate, I intend to continue my work
21:31to help make this nation a better place for all Texas and all Americans.
21:37Thank you very much, and may God bless Texas, and may he continue to bless the United States of America.
21:49That is Senator John Cornyn, who just spoke after the race was projected to go to his Republican opponent in
21:56this race,
21:57the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, quoting Teddy Roosevelt, the man in the arena,
22:02while acknowledging that he came up short in votes, his voice wavering at times as you listen to him there,
22:08and also saying one thing, as Scott was just noting a minute ago,
22:12he does intend to support the Republican ticket this November, which obviously means he plans to support
22:18his now, his former opponent in this race, who is now going to be the Republican nominee in this Senate
22:23race.
22:24John King is back in the magic wall for us, and John, obviously listening to that speech there,
22:29John Cornyn is someone who's been in the U.S. Senate for 24 years as this is coming on the
22:36heels of this loss,
22:37that, you know, it was maybe in March, I think that the President was on the verge of endorsing him,
22:43and then his opponent, Ken Paxton, came out and said he'd drop out of the race if the Senate nuked
22:48the filibuster,
22:50and pushed through the SAVE Act, the Save America Act that Trump wants so badly,
22:54and has caused huge tension between the President and Senate Republicans here in Washington.
22:59And if you look at this map, Caitlin, we've talked about this before. You've talked about it with your
23:04smart panels in recent weeks. President Trump is incredibly weak nationally right now.
23:08His national poll numbers are down. He's underwater. The Iran war is unpopular. Gas prices are up.
23:12However, the president has shown yet again in Texas his power over the Republican base.
23:17Senator Cornyn, graceful there, as he heads for the exits. This is embarrassing for a veteran
23:24Republican incumbent. I'm old enough to remember when John Cornyn was a rising star
23:27in Texas politics two and a half, three decades ago. Tonight, Ken Paxton is getting 63% of the vote,
23:34has a 222,000, 222,000 vote lead. The incumbent Republican senator getting just 37%.
23:41Perhaps that changes a little bit as the final votes come in. But thumping, shellacking,
23:46call it what you will. 254 counties in the giant state of Texas, more counties than any other state.
23:54One, two, three, four. Four of those counties, John Cornyn is leading in the vote tonight. He is the
24:01four-term Republican incumbent senator of this state. And he is leading in only four counties
24:07at the moment as the votes come in. Again, to the power of the president, I just want to draw
24:12you a
24:12line right here. This is ruby red, rural Texas. Those counties inside the green are places where
24:18Trump gets 70, 80, sometimes 92, 93% of the vote. They're small. In some of those counties,
24:23it's 129 votes. In others, it might be 500 votes. But this has been the Trump phenomenon in rural
24:29America. That is tonight. This was the primary just a few weeks ago when Donald Trump had not endorsed in
24:35this race. All that read is John Cornyn. That was then, absent the Trump endorsement. That is tonight.
24:43Ken Paxton padding his victory by doing what Trump does, running it up in the rural counties. And so
24:50the numbers are impressive for Mr. Paxton tonight. And now we go into November where Democrats do
24:56believe. I've been in Texas a couple times this cycle already. They believe they have a shot. It's been
25:0032 years since the Democrats have won statewide in Texas. So be a little skeptical, but they think
25:05they got a shot. Yeah. President Trump will be happy tonight. But as our colleague Jeff Zeleny
25:10points out, Senate Democrats might be happy as well here. John King, thank you for joining us from the
25:15magic wall. Up next year, we have much more of our special breaking news coverage tonight as we are
25:21waiting to hear from Ken Paxton himself at his event. Also, Harry Enten is here with his look at where
25:27this race could go next as Paxton will now face the Democrat James Tallarico.
25:35Welcome back to our special live coverage as we are waiting any minute now for Ken Paxton to take
25:41the stage in Texas and speak. That comes after the president's endorsement of Paxton in this Texas race
25:47has paid off tonight and sent a very clear message to the Senate GOP. Extreme loyalty or else. Paxton's
25:55loyalty to the president days back years. You'll remember he took the stage at his rally on January 6,
26:002021, hours before rioters attacked the Capitol on that day. As the attorney general in Texas,
26:06he also fought in court for Trump's false claims about the 2020 election.
26:13We sued four states over the ballot fraud and not following the constitution,
26:18not following state law. And we took it directly to the Supreme Court and they should have heard our case.
26:27And let me just finish up by saying that what we have in President Trump is a fighter.
26:34And I think that's why we're all here.
26:37Paxton is someone who filed more than a hundred lawsuits against the Biden administration when he
26:42was attorney general, many of them on issues like weaponization of government agencies and vaccine
26:47mandates. But to also understand the magnitude of Ken Paxton's victory in Texas tonight is to also
26:54understand why Republican aligned groups and burned through tens of millions of dollars highlighting his
26:59years of scandal to portray him as unelectable in a general race. In 2015, Paxton was indicted for
27:06allegedly encouraged investors to fund a technology company without disclosing that he had been
27:11compensated for referrals. It wasn't until years later that a settlement was reached and the felony
27:16charges against him were formally dismissed. He was required to complete community service,
27:21legal education, and also pay restitution. Then in 2020, several members of Ken Paxton's senior
27:27staff reported him to the FBI, alleging bribery, abuse of power, and misusing the AG's office to help a
27:34political donor. He denied the allegations. And in May 2023, the Republican-controlled Texas House
27:40impeached him over it. This shameful process was curated from the start as an act of political
27:49retribution. I hope the House makes the right decision. But if not, I look forward to a quick
27:54resolution to the Texas Senate where I truly believe the process will be fair and just.
28:00He was ultimately acquitted by the Texas State Senate. And the Justice Department under President Biden
28:06reportedly dropped its case against him just before the start of President Trump's second term. That's
28:12not where the controversy stopped, though. In fact, what followed became a pretty key part
28:16of Senator John Cornyn's campaign message against him.
28:41I should note CNN has not independently verified the allegations that were made in that video,
28:45and Paxton didn't respond directly to the allegations in the statement that he put out,
28:50but said he was running because he loves his family, his state, and his country,
28:53and that he argued they deserve a far better senator than John Cornyn.
28:58Now, I should note we are actually hearing from Ken Paxton tonight on stage. Let's listen in.
29:10I feel speechless in a way, but you know, they're not going to let me do that. Wow. To the
29:14people in
29:15this room, to the people watching at home, and to the people of the great state of Texas, tonight,
29:22we just made history.
29:29I want to thank my family, my kids, my grandchildren, the Paxton Patriots, and every single person here
29:36today. Without your love, your support, and your prayers, we would not be here tonight celebrating this
29:44incredible victory. I'd also like to thank all of the grassroots local state and national leaders who
29:50supported this campaign, including Congressman Brandon Gilt, who just spoke, Lance Gooden,
30:00Congressman Nels, Congressman Wesley Hunt, and Congressman Ronny Jackson.
30:09I'd also like to thank Scott Pressler and Turning Point Action
30:17for their endorsements. And then there's one person who I think you might know,
30:24President Donald J. Trump.
30:33When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn't listen.
30:39Instead, he gave his complete and total endorsement. President Trump is the leader of our nation.
30:45This is your win. We just proved that this Senate seat doesn't belong to Washington.
30:51It belongs to you, the hardworking men and women of this state.
30:58We went up against $150 million in all the attacks in the world. And you know what happened?
31:05The voters declared loud and clear a simple truth that we know in our hearts and in our souls,
31:10Texas is not for sale.
31:17Now, I want to take a minute to say something about Senator Cornyn. I want to thank Senator
31:22Cornyn for his service to this state. John has dedicated much of his life to serving Texas. He's worked
31:28diligently for years to help Texas. And for that spirit of service to the Lone Star State and our nation,
31:33I'm very grateful. Thank you, John.
31:39So no matter who you supported in this race, whether it was me, Senator Cornyn, or you voted for someone
31:44different in March, I want to thank every single Texans and I want to let them know that I want
31:50to earn
31:51your support. Tonight is not the end of a campaign. Tonight is the beginning of the fight to preserve
31:56every value we hold dear. The future of Texas and the future of America is on the line. And I
32:02intend
32:03to do everything I can to expand our movement. I've won three statewide elections because I know how
32:09critical it is for our party to come together. And that's what we must do now. Without a shadow of
32:15a
32:15doubt, I will be the Democrats' number one target in November. Texas will be the radical left's number
32:23one priority. But if there's one thing I know about Texans, it's that we're not going to let them take
32:29it.
32:37This campaign is not about red versus blue. It's about so much more. My opponent is the
32:44most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. He's even running a vegan campaign,
32:49whatever that is. He goes by a few names that you may all have heard of. Some people know him
32:56as
32:57Tofu Tallarico. Some people call him Six Gender Jimmy. I've even heard some people call him James
33:07Tallafrico. And others refer to him simply as Low T Tallarico. But no matter what you call him,
33:16let me tell you. You are listening to the Texas Attorney General, now the projected Republican
33:21candidate in the Texas Senate race that is going to go up against James Tallarico, as he was just
33:27referencing there. That's Ken Paxton, who just defeated Republican Senator John Cornyn tonight,
33:32a race that was highly competitive until President Trump came in and endorsed Ken Paxton,
33:38who is on stage right now about a week ago, and shifted the dynamics of this race in a way
33:43that many were not seeing coming. I've got my political panel here with me and Scott Jennings
33:48and David Axelrod. I mean, Scott, just to show you the impact that this is going to have,
33:52you heard him say there that he is going to be Democrats' number one target come November.
33:56The Cook Political Report, since this happened tonight, has just changed their view of this race
34:03as likely Republican to now say it is lean Republican in their view in terms of what this dynamic looks
34:09like.
34:09Yeah, look, I think Paxton is right. Democrats are going to target this. They're going to spend
34:14maybe hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas. My view is that it's still likely to elect a
34:21Republican in November. It won't be Cornyn. It'll be Paxton. But a lot of money is going to be spent
34:26there. I suspect some Republican money will be spent there as well. I suspect actually it'll be a negative
34:30campaign. And when you go back and forth on who does Texas want to have represented in the U.S.
34:36Senate, I have a hard time believing, all negative attacks aside, they're going to want to send
34:42somebody to the Senate who would oppose Donald Trump, who won Texas by double digits. But look,
34:48expensive, negative campaign to come. I agree that Republicans still have the upper hand, but
34:52you've got to run the race. And now that's Paxton's burden. And I think it was smart for him to
34:56say
34:57something nice about John Cornyn tonight. He's going to need every single Republican on board. And I think
35:01he's going to get them. When the contrast is made here, you're going to get somebody who's going to
35:05vote Republican and fight for Republican values versus somebody who's pretty far outside of the
35:10mainstream as it relates to Texas.
35:11First of all, I don't think he's going to be the number one target of Democrats because I think
35:19Democrats are not going to, like the party, the national party, I don't think will spend a dime in Texas.
35:24Tallarico can raise all the money that he needs to raise. I think the Republican Party, however, is going to
35:29have to spend
35:30a fortune to try and save Paxton in Texas, which is what, of course, Cornyn warned and some of the
35:38party leaders warned about.
35:40And what that means is that other Democratic candidates around the country are going to be
35:46in better shape because the money that's being spent to save Paxton isn't being spent in their races.
35:51So I think overall it increases the ability of Democrats to compete and win seats. That's one
35:59that's one element of this. I also think, yes, it's going to be it's obviously going to be a negative
36:04campaign.
36:06You are a brilliant exponent of such things. And I mean, I heard you and Begala go at it. And
36:14I
36:14actually thought that was a good preview of the campaign you're going to see. I mean, you use some
36:22of the tropes that you heard from Paxton and Begala talked about the kind of cost of living issues that
36:28are plaguing people in Texas. And I think that people in Texas are pretty mad about that. The Texas
36:35economy isn't great. People have concerns about affordability. The Hispanic vote in Texas, which
36:41was very strong for Donald Trump in 2024, is now a by double digits in Tallarico's corner in this race.
36:55So, I mean, I think that Paxton has his work cut out for him. I mean, the man who John
36:59Cornyn
37:00intimated that he was going to support tonight, he called an embarrassment. And he's called him a lot
37:04worse during the course of his campaign. I expect that Cornyn may make an appearance in some of the
37:08Tallarico advertising there because this is a very scandal scarred candidate.
37:14And Cornyn or Tallarico is putting out a comment tonight, you know,
37:19thanking John Cornyn for his time in the Senate and also saying,
37:21if you're a Cornyn supporter, we welcome you inside our camp.
37:25Well, look, I think that I've heard from Texas Republicans who are longstanding
37:29Republicans who said, I'll never vote for Ken Paxton. Remember, he was impeached in the in the
37:36Texas House overwhelmingly in a Republican-dominated House for some of the things that he did as
37:43attorney general. He called it a partisan vote. They controlled the House, and he got overwhelmingly
37:48impeached. So, I mean, I think there are real issues about Paxton, which is why there were such
37:53great concerns about him.
37:54Look, both candidates are going to have to answer for their record. And while they're attacking
37:58Paxton, Paxton's going to be drawing a very clear contrast with Tallarico, who has staked out
38:03some extraordinarily bizarre out-of-the-mainstream positions on a number of things, all of that
38:09video is going to come up. So, look, I think the point is, it's a real campaign.
38:13Yeah.
38:13The baggage will be unloaded. We'll see whose bags are heavier.
38:16And who is actually mainstream and who isn't.
38:18I think that's going to be a core question.
38:19I don't think security fraud is mainstream in Texas or some of the other problems
38:25that Paxton's... I don't think paying $6 million or millions of dollars out to
38:30of whistleblowers because of the abuse of them by Paxton, who they blew the whistle on,
38:36is mainstream. I don't think that's what people think in Texas.
38:39I don't think six genders, no meat, and calling the American flag a complicated symbol is mainstream.
38:43Well, well, those issues are going to be...
38:44We'll fight it out.
38:45No, no. I mean, that's your interpretation of what he said.
38:47And we'll see.
38:49That's what I think.
38:49But I think at the end of the day, people are going to want someone who's going to speak
38:51to their concerns.
38:53And this is not their main concern. We ran that race in 24. Trump got elected. I'm not sure it's
38:58going to play
38:59in 26.
38:59And Democrats learned nothing.
39:01We shall see. David Axelrod, Scott Jennings, great to have you both here tonight.
39:05Of course, that is what Republicans are now facing. It'll be interesting to see what Senate
39:09Republicans in Washington have to say about this. Up next, what Democrats could be learning from what
39:14New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani is doing in New York. He's here for an interview with The Source
39:19right after this.
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