One small but welcome story out of Texas last night: Democrat Johnny Garcia easily won his House primary in Texas’s 35th Congressional District, dispatching loony sex-therapist candidate Maureen Galindo, who had promised “prison for American Zionists”—and been backstopped by substantial spending from Republicans who had hoped to secure her the nomination to throw them an easy win in the purple district. Happy Wednesday.
Mark Hertling and Ben Parker will be live on Substack and YouTube for Command Post today at 10:30 a.m. EDT. Make sure to tune in!
Big John Deflated
by Andrew Egger
If Donald Trump’s base is a cult, we’re rapidly approaching the Comet Hale–Bopp phase. Outside his party, he’s already a lame duck with catastrophically low approval and a stalled agenda. But as he weakens outside the building, his remarkable influence inside seems only to grow over a party eager to drink the Kool-Aid at his request.
Yesterday’s Republican Senate primary runoff in Texas was the clearest sign of this yet. It pitted a formidable, well-funded establishment incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, against a sad-sack rabble-rouser MAGA type in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton is damaged goods in fifteen different ways—uncharismatic and dull, loathed by those who have worked with him in state government, beset by serial adultery scandals, impeached by his own party over his extraordinary corruption and self-dealing. Paxton had exactly two strengths: The perverse intuition of the MAGA base that his run of bad behavior and scandal meant he was actually a strong conservative fighter, and his obsequious, servile loyalty to Trump, for which the president rewarded him with a late endorsement.
Which turns out, of course, to be all you need. In the end it wasn’t even close. Paxton walloped Cornyn by more than 27 points.
This result came as a heavy blow to anyone still carrying a hopeful torch for some unsullied original-flavor Republican party to reemerge from the ashes of Trumpism. Believe it or not, these people are still out there; some of them are even senators themselves. For a decade now, these senators have clung frantically to the idea that, if they just stick with Trump for now, eventually he’ll ride off into the sunset and leave them in control of their own party again. And in the meantime, sticking with Trump had its direct benefits: It seemed for a while like a bulletproof shield against grassroots-insurgent primary challenges.
You couldn’t find a better poster child for the accommodationist approach that the GOP Senate old guard took than Big John. For years, he was the consummate grin-and-bear-it Trump ally, steadfastly supporting his agenda from his post in Senate leadership. But as it turns out, that posture wasn’t as bulletproof as guys like Cornyn thought. It kept him in Trump’s good books as long as the president had bigger, more openly mutinous fish to fry. But once he had rid himself of the Mitt Romneys and Liz Cheneys of the world, Trump found himself at his leisure to start punishing smaller and smaller crimes: an unwillingness to abandon the legislative filibuster, a curiosity toward other candidates early in the 2024 presidential primary, the inescapable scent of belonging to a pre-Trump establishment at all.
In another world, I would lament Cornyn’s ignominious defeat. It seems impossible to deny he is a better man than Paxton, and a better and more reasonable negotiator of the sort the Senate needs to function.
But in this world, it’s hard to respond to last night’s outcome with anything but grim, bleak pleasure. What, in the end, did Cornyn’s decade of Trump accommodation get him? Nothing but the futile hope that he might outlast the era—a hope that finally brought him to the greatest humiliation of all, a yearlong fruitless effort to woo Trump into blessing him with his endorsement by posting pictures of himself reading The Art of the Deal and introducing bills to rename Texas highways after the president. He made himself a dog for Trump, and Trump put him down like a dog.
At the same time, Cornyn’s loss can only diminish Trump’s actual political power. Trump has now robbed yet another Republican senator of his political future, meaning he has unencumbered yet another Republican senator of his biggest reason for ignoring or indulging Trump’s perpetual outrages. And that’s not all: The rest of the Senate GOP can’t help but notice that their former accommodationist arrangement seems to be falling apart before their eyes. What’s the point of giving the president America increasingly hates so much of your blood and sweat when he may just turn around and sic his base on you anyway?
And then there’s the little matter of the Texas seat itself. We’ve known all along that Democratic nominee James Talarico polls much better against Paxton than he does against Cornyn. That gap will shrink in the months ahead as “normie” Republicans—now a minority in their own base—perform their now-familiar humiliation ritual and try to rationalize away their distaste for Paxton. But there’s no question that Republicans can no longer count on Texas; they will be forced to spend heavily in the (very expensive) state just to feel good about a race they by rights shouldn’t have to think about at all.
So enjoy your nominee, Mr. President—and try not to choke on him.
Do Not Pity Big John
by William Kristol
Just after 9:00 p.m. last night, soon after it became apparent that Sen. John Cornyn had lost his primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico posted:
I want to thank Senator John Cornyn for his years representing our state. We don’t agree on everything, but we both still believe in public service. To Senator Cornyn’s supporters: you have a place in our campaign.
The post was kind and gracious. It was true to Talarico’s political identity as someone who believes in civility and comity. It was quite likely politically effective.
At almost exactly the same time yesterday evening, another Texan, Michael Wood, an ex-Republican and friend of The Bulwark (you can watch my Sunday conversation with him on the war in Iran and Memorial Day here), published his own thoughts about Cornyn.
Wood sounds very different from Talararico.
It is as important to call out our gutless elected officials as it is to celebrate the brave ones. . . .
John Cornyn . . . has had more agency in our country’s existential fight against Trumpism than roughly 99.999% of Americans. In 2021 there were exactly 100 people who could have put this sad and sorry chapter of American history behind us for good, and in that moment John Cornyn hid behind Mitch McConnell’s skirt . . .
Fifty-seven United States senators were able to do the right and obvious thing and voted to convict and bar that evil man from ever holding public office again, including seven Republican senators. . . .
This little man didn’t want a primary challenge six freaking years later.
And yet again the world is shown the fruits of every Faustian bargain ever made: you sell your soul, and in the end you lose your soul without even getting the object of your desire. . . .
What annoys the hell out of me about people like Cornyn—which is to say almost every person still active in GOP politics in Anno Domini 2026—is that they think they are all so smart and clever. . . .
No. The difference isn’t intelligence and skill. The difference is courage and patriotism. These men without chests, as C.S. Lewis would call them, are not nimble or smart. They are cowards, and I for one will not let them forget it. . . .
So goodbye and good riddance, Big John Cornyn.
The whole thing is worth a read.
Wood obviously differs in both tone and substance from Talarico.
But I’m pro-Wood and pro-Talarico. Both truth-telling and prudence are virtues.
The democratic opposition to Trump and Trumpism needs to understand the truth. It needs the moral clarity and intellectual honesty of Michael Wood.
The democratic opposition to Trump and Trumpism also needs to defeat corrupt and dangerous men like Ken Paxton. So it needs the gracious civility and political prudence of James Talarico.
So Wood ends his piece, “Vote Talarico.” And one trusts that in private Talarico would say, “You’re right, Michael Wood.”
AROUND THE BULWARK
Republican Exiles Make the Case Against Trump… Targeted by the big orange boss and ousted from Congress, they’re finally speaking up, writes WILL SALETAN.
‘Backrooms’ Review… SONNY BUNCH on the labyrinth of the mind.
An Inventory of Trump’s Second-Term Wreckage… Betrayed, a new summary of the appalling damage so far, is a midterms turnout tool—and hopefully a roadmap for repair, JILL LAWRENCE writes.
Texas Primary Results! Megyn Kelly Turns on Trump?! Join JVL, SARAH, and TIM for The Next Level, recorded live on TX primary night.
Quick Hits
REDISTRICTING SKIRMISHES CONTINUE: Republicans turned out the winners in this year’s Redistricting Total War, but a couple recent developments may end up crimping their advantage a bit. Yesterday, Republicans in the South Carolina Senate once again rejected a redistricting measure that had been championed by President Trump and Gov. Henry McMaster, arguing that the state had run out of time to change its maps with primary voting having already begun: “Neither my conscience nor my common sense,” state Sen. Richard Cash said, “will allow me to stop an election that is already underway.” The upshot: Democratic Rep. James Clyburn’s seat appears safe for now.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday against Alabama’s newly gerrymandered map, a decision that could theoretically preserve a second Democratic district in the state—should the Supreme Court allow it to stand, which might be a dubious proposition. Politico has more:
Following the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling earlier this year, Alabama sought to revert to a 2023 map—with only one Democratic-leaning district—that had previously been blocked in court.
But a three-judge panel Tuesday prevented the state from using that map, mandating that Alabama use a map that has two majority Black, blue-leaning seats.
“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the panel wrote in their decision.
OLD PRESIDENT IS OLD: This guy just can’t stay away from the hospital! Donald Trump was back at Walter Reed yesterday for what he described as his “six-month physical,” and he’s happy to have you know, as he wrote on Truth Social, that “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.” In and of itself, that wouldn’t be so interesting—setting aside the many oddly unresolved questions still knocking around out there about the president’s health and haleness, like the now-frequent makeup smears on the backs of his hands and his habit of falling asleep in cabinet meetings and, well, any other public function at which he’s sitting down.
What was particularly odd, though, was the frothing rage the president’s digital comms teams flew into over the latest round of “the president’s pretty old” commentary sparked by the latest presidential hospital visit. The “Rapid Response 47” X account spent most of the day tweeting out still images of various media figures mid-blink with ludicrous captions: “BRIANNA KEILAR SAYS NAP WENT ‘PERFECTLY’ AFTER FALLING ASLEEP LIVE ON AIR.” “FAKE TAPPER APPEARS TO DOZE OFF THROUGHOUT HIS ‘SHOW.’” “@DanaBashCNN FALLS ASLEEP AHEAD OF HER 55TH BIRTHDAY NEXT MONTH. WHAT IS GOING ON?”
We could ask them the same question.
Cheap Shots
How long exactly is this war going be?
Something a little different for today from The Bulwark’s crack video team. Like or share it on your social platform of choice: Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Twitter, Substack Notes.
As a thanks for sharing, an extra Cheap Shot:
Don’t expect any profile in courage from John Cornyn. Not even the token “Johnny-Come-Lately” morality that Tillis and Cassidy have demonstrated.
Cornyn was an awful Senator his whole career. A cowardly, immoral partisan that never had the courage to think for himself. He spent literally decades trying to move up in the Republican apparatus. It succeeded and he lived a comfortable life always toeing the party line and then the Trump line (synonymous).
Cornyn will be forgotten by all sides. Hopefully his best contribution will be helping indirectly Talarico win the open Texas senate seat.
Texas will offer the bellwether election about the true nature of Americans. Either we are a nation that can admit our mistake, refute the rule of billionaire fascists led by a degenerate clown, or are will really a nation that his ok with being run by a group of very wealthy people who use racism, nationalism, and violence to keep a few people very rich and powerful while exploiting everyone else?