The “Big Three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC were enthralled Wednesday morning with the possibilities of a blue Texas Senate seat in November as they declared the Republican nomination of “controversial” Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn could “backfire for the GOP” with Democrat state Representative James Talarico serving “as their best chance to win in decades.”
ABC’s Good Morning America co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos boasted in a tease about said “backfir[ing]”: “Texas-sized win for President Trump. Attorney General Ken Paxton ousts longtime Republican Senator John Cornyn in the high-stakes primary. Will that backfire for the GOP in November? How the race could decide which party controls the Senate.”
Stephanopoulos speculated minutes later that the win for “the state’s controversial attorney general…could boost Democrats come November.”
Needless to say, you can tell ABC's 'Good Morning America' is really excited about James Talarico in Texas and think he'll dismantle Republican Ken Paxton pic.twitter.com/zVJ5etfGLQ
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 27, 2026
Congressional correspondent Jay O’Brien relayed the “embattled” Paxton won thanks to President Trump’s “last-minute endorsement” and “the fourth time in less than a month that the President has put his thumb on the scale in a primary to oust a Republican.”
“John Cornyn, though, was not disloyal to President Trump in the Senate and was largely supportive. Paxton, for his part, has had a series of scandals that he has survived, including a push from his own Texas Republicans to impeach him over accusations of infidelity and corruption. He’s denied any wrongdoing,” he added.
He concluded “some Republicans” remain “concerned that it could put this critical Senate seat in play and give an opening to the Democratic challenger here, James Talarico, who this morning is already courting Cornyn voters[.]
In the second hour, Stephanopoulos doubled down on his use of the words “backfire” and “controversial” to describe Paxton as a “boost” to Democrats.
Over on CBS Mornings, featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers called Paxton’s win “another sign of the President’s stronghold on the GOP, but some Republicans are worried about the result.”
White House and elections correspondent Ed O’Keefe described the result as both “a big thumping” and “a huge upset.”
“Paxton has faced years of investigations and an impeachment attempt, rooted in multiple allegations of personal and official corruption. He’s denied it all…His Democratic opponent, James Talarico, wasted no time Tuesday night,” O’Keefe later declared.
Ahead of what was unbeknownst to viewers, an interview with Talarico, O’Keefe dispatched with the radical views he aired a day prior in favor of fluff: “Talarico is a state representative. He’s amassed tens of millions of dollars, hoping to win back a Senate seat for Democrats for the first time since 1988. A one-time seminarian, he calls himself a Christian progressive. Paxton calls him radical.”
“[Republicans have] already spent $130 million…Talarico has raised tens of millions of dollars more. Very likely this is going to be one of the most expensive contests of the year, and ultimately could be the one that determines who controls the Senate after November,” he later concluded.
Like ABC, NBC’s Today led off the show with the results, but initially framed by co-host Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie as a “stunning political upset” with “Trump flexing his muscle in a critical race once again” to ensure Paxton “soundly defeated” Cornyn.
Texas-based correspondent Ryan Chandler emphasized “Paxton proved once again last night that the most valuable currency in Republican politics is the support of President Trump” and Tuesday set up “a record-setting duel” and “bruising battle between Paxton and Democratic nominee James Talarico this fall, with the two trading attacks overnight.”
BIAS BY OMISSION: NBC's 'Today' points out Ken Paxton's baggage in a story Wednesday about the #TXsen runoff, but nothing about Talarico's radical, far-left views pic.twitter.com/dX2DC7iMMT
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 27, 2026
As was the case with ABC and CBS on this particular news cycle (and every one, except Tuesday’s CBS Mornings), Chandler laid out Paxton’s baggage, but nothing about Talarico that could turn away voters (click “expand”):
CHANDLER: Paxton has fought legal and ethical challenges for years, impeached on charges of corruption and bribery in 2023, but later acquitted in the state Senate. He’s also facing a high-profile divorce from state Senator Angela Paxton on what she called “biblical grounds.” Democrats now see a real chance to win a statewide Texas seat for the first time this century in what could be the most expensive Senate race ever. We sat down with Cornyn before his defeat with the Senator warning Paxton could jeopardize the GOP’s grip on the state.
CORNYN: I’ve spent most of my adult career trying to build the Republican Party in Texas to what it is today, but a scandal-ridden candidate like Ken Paxton with all the baggage that he brings puts all that at risk.
CHANDLER: Now still, Senator Cornyn reiterated he does intend to support the Republican nominee, telling us that this is going to be a bruising fight ahead, and he expects his party to unify ahead of November[.]
Chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake came in with analysis backing up the long-held reality of the GOP being made in Trump’s image, but argued his bucking of incumbent senators makes it “much harder to get much of anything passed in the Republican-controlled Senate the rest of this year.”
Guthrie took out the Talarico pom-poms, but didn’t necessarily wave them high. Haake said Talarico is seen as the left’s “best chance to win in decades,” yet “that’s not saying much” and “a very steep hill” remains:
GUTHRIE: Democrats, of course, now see an opportunity. Potentially, they’ve got James Talarico, who will be running against Paxton. What are the realistic chances in the general election? We have seen Democrats fall in love before and think that possibly they could turn this red Senate seat blue.
(….)
HAAKE: Look, Democrats see him as their best chance to win in decades. But that’s not saying much. No Democrat has won statewide in Texas since the early 1990s. And Talarico will still have a very steep hill to climb if he’s going to reverse that. But there has been some polling. There was an April University of Texas poll that shows Talarico actually leading Paxton by eight points. But there are a lot of undecideds left in that race. And I think the key here is where does moderate, Republican, Cornyn-style voters end up? Do they hold their noses on all those Paxton personal issues that Ryan laid out and vote for him because he’s a Republican? Or do they roll the dice on Talarico, who’s been talking and posting about the idea that Cornyn supporters are welcome in his campaign and highlighting issues on which he’s breaking for national Democrats, things like the border. I won’t make any predictions, except that this will be expensive. Both parties are going to plow money into Texas, probably make this the most expensive Senate race in history.
Haake returned for the second hour with the cliffnotes, except to point out long-time Houston-area Democrat Congressman Al Green will be headed for the exits as he lost to fellow (and much younger) House Democrat Christian Menefee because of the state’s redistricting.
To see the relevant transcripts from May 27, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).
