<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">For months, the Senate Republican campaign operation eviscerated Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, who on Tuesday won the state’s Senate primary, in official statements that attacked him for “incompetence” and branded his personal behavior “truly repulsive and disgusting.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">And last week when President Trump endorsed Mr. Paxton, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/republican-senators-trump-paxton.html" title="">Republican senators were livid</a>, grousing that the president had put his personal desire for loyalty above the party’s political interests, potentially risking the Texas seat and the G.O.P.’s chances of holding the Senate.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">But after Mr. Paxton trounced Senator John Cornyn of Texas by close to 30 points on Tuesday night, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/us/politics/paxton-talarico-texas-senate-race.html" title="">transforming Texas into a battleground state</a>, Republicans have performed a very awkward pivot.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">They quickly memory-holed months of scathing charges against Mr. Paxton that were as withering as any that Democrats might conjure up. And, swallowing their anger about the snub of Mr. Cornyn and its potential political consequences, they lined up to express varying levels of “all in” on Mr. Paxton’s campaign, if not his character.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“We’re making the pivot,” Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and majority leader, said in an interview on Wednesday with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, acknowledging the shift.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Thune said he had already spoken with Mr. Paxton, whom he described as “all in, ready to go for the fall election and not taking any time off, already on the phone raising money, and all the things you’re going to have to do to be successful.”</p><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1u67kh9" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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