The Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, prevailed over primary challenger Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush in Tuesday's runoff election that drew as close as ten points in polls leading up to the election. But on election day, to put it mildly, Paxton trounced Bush.
Decision Desk HQ projects Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) is the winner of the Republican nomination for Attorney General in Texas.
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 25, 2022
Race call: 8:37pm EDT
More results here: https://t.co/r3Sw6SmXle
Paxton was backed by former President Donald Trump who called the attorney general "strong on Crime, Border Security, the Second Amendment, Election Integrity and, above all, our Constitution" in his endorsement.
Honored to have President Trump supporting me. We need to make this county safe again. pic.twitter.com/FouqNpGs3v
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 24, 2022
Paxton's victory, however, was overshadowed by the horrific shooting that took place in Uvalde, Texas, on primary day as a gunman took the lives of 18 elementary school students and one teacher. Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott are, understandably, preoccupied with the ongoing investigation into the events that preceded Tuesday's evil attack on young students just days before the end of their school year.
At the time the race was called by Decision Desk HQ, Paxton was up some 60 percent to 30 percent for Bush, ending — for now at least — the aspirations of the family that used to be a political dynasty in the Lone Star State. The last member of his family to lose a statewide race in Texas was George Herbert Walker Bush, who lost the 1980 Texas presidential primary to Ronald Reagan.