John Cornyn

John Cornyn (born February 2, 1952, Houston, Texas, U.S.) is an American politician who was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and began representing Texas later that year. In 2026, he lost a runoff primary election to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who won the endorsement of Pres. Donald Trump.

Cornyn, the son of an air force officer, attended high school at a U.S. base in Japan. He returned to his home state of Texas to study journalism at Trinity University (B.A., 1973). He briefly worked as a real-estate agent before earning a law degree at St. Mary’s University in 1977. He then entered private practice in San Antonio, specializing in defending medical and legal malpractice cases. In 1979 he married Sandy Hansen, and the couple had two children. Cornyn later received a Master of Law degree (1995) from the University of Virginia.

In 1984 Cornyn was elected district judge of Bexar county, and he served in that capacity until 1990, when he won a seat on the Texas Supreme Court. He was reelected in 1996, but he resigned the following year in order to run for state attorney general. He won and took office in 1999. Cornyn twice argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court before stepping down in 2002. That year he ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Phil Gramm. Cornyn was elected with about 55 percent of the general vote, and he took office in December 2002 after Gramm resigned early. He became a member of the deputy minority whip team the following year and rose in the Republican Party Senate leadership, becoming minority whip in 2012. Three years later he became majority whip.

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As a senator, Cornyn established himself as a conservative, though he was considered a member of the so-called Republican establishment rather than of the Tea Party. He took a strong interest in defense issues, veterans affairs, and immigration. He was an advocate of open government, championing the OPEN Government Act (2007), a program that revised the Freedom of Information Act to ensure more timely action on the part of government agencies being petitioned. He also proposed legislation that would prohibit Congress from enacting bills that did not have an accompanying statement of tax transparency.

Cornyn won his re-election campaigns in 2008, 2014, and 2020 handily. But in 2026 midterm elections he faced stiff competition in the March 3 Republican party. His prime competition was Paxton, the MAGA-inspired attorney general of Texas,.Congressman Wesley Hunt also ran in the March 3 primary, which turned into a bitter battle between Cornyn and Paxton.

“It’s hard to think of the things that he’s done good for Texas or the country,” Paxton said on Fox News during the race. In response, the Cornyn campaign said, “Ken Paxton is a fraud.” Some Republicans worried that the race would divide the party and weaken it during the crucial 2026 midterm elections. On election night, Cornyn garnered 41.8 percent of the vote; Paxton got 40.8 percent, with Hunt at 13.4 percent. Since neither Paxton nor Cornyn secured a majority, they faced voters again in a May 26 runoff. On May 19 U.S. Pres. Donald Trump endorsed Paxton, saying that Cornyn had not been sufficiently loyal to him. The endorsement proved to be a significant blow to Cornyn’s re-election bid, which ended in a Paxton landslide. Paxton will face Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett. The U.S. midterm elections will be held on November 3, 2026.