Texas GOP attorney general primary headed to May runoff after Paxton fails to top 50%

MCKINNEY, Texas – The crowded and combustible GOP primary race for Texas attorney general is headed for a May runoff. 

The two-term Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s known nationally for trying to legally upend the 2020 presidential election results and who enjoys the backing of former President Donald Trump, failed to top 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, forcing him into a May runoff.

TEXAS SHOWDOWN: IT’S GOP GOV. GREG ABBOTT VS. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER BETO O’ROURKE IN NOVEMBER

“May 24 is not that far away. We haven’t won anything. Tomorrow we start zero-zero,” Paxton told supporters on Tuesday night as he acknowledged he was headed for a runoff.

What’s uncertain is which GOP challenger will face Paxton. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush held a slight edge over former state Supreme Court justice Eva Guzman according to unofficial primary results at the time this report was filed.

Paxton, who’s taken President Biden’s administration to court numerous times over the past year, has showcased his conservative record as he seeks the GOP nomination. 

TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL PAXTON UNDER ATTACK FROM PRIMARY CHALLENGERS OVER POLITICAL BAGGAGE

But he’s been repeatedly attacked by Bush, Guzman, and his other main challenger, Rep. Louie Gohmert, over the slew of corruption allegations that he faces.

The conservative attorney general told his supporters that the “establishment, they got what they wanted, they got me in a runoff.”

And looking ahead to the runoff campaign, Paxton predicted that “a lot of money is going to go to the other side….There are people who want to control this office.”

Paxton grabbed national attention for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case in the Supreme Court that tried to overturn now President Biden’s razor-thin win over Trump in…