The window for either U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to exit the Republican primary runoff for a Senate seat has officially closed, with neither man seemingly blinking an eye.
Tuesday’s deadline came and went without a withdrawal filing from either candidate, sending Texas’s GOP Senate primary barreling toward another era of expensive inner-party warfare ahead of the May 26 runoff election.
Under the Texas Election Code, runoff candidates may withdraw until 5 p.m. on the third day after the state party completes its official canvass of primary results. The Republican Party of Texas ran that canvass on Saturday, March 14, setting March 17 as the final day for either candidate to step aside and hand the other the nomination outright.
The standoff has kicked off against a backdrop of intense pressure. Shortly after the March 3 primary – in which Cornyn and Paxton advanced with 43% and 41% of the vote, respectively- President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, calling for the race to end, pledging to endorse one candidate and calling on the other to drop out immediately, as The Dallas Express reported at the time.
The President’s delay seems closely tied to the fate of the SAVE America Act, an election-integrity bill that would require proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, restrict mail-in voting, and ban gender-transition procedures for minors. Trump told NBC News that “A lot has to do with the SAVE America Act…Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country.”
Paxton jumped on the SAVE Act as leverage. He posted on March 5 that he would “consider dropping out” of the Senate race if Senate leadership agreed to lift the filibuster and pass the SAVE Act.
The Save America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I'm committed to helping President Trump get it done.
I would consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act.
John Cornyn…
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 5, 2026
Cornyn, for his part, pulled off a notable primary conversion. As The Dallas Express previously reported, Cornyn expressed support for altering Senate rules to pass the SAVE America Act – a position he had long opposed – arguing in a March 11 opinion piece that “when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.”
The Senate began debating the SAVE America Act on Tuesday, with Cornyn voting alongside 50 other Senate Republicans to open debate.
The Republican nominee will face Democrat James Talarico, a state representative who won his party’s primary, in the November general election.
