Texas, home to commercial and government nuclear facilities, must wait until May to learn what Republican will square off against upstart Democrat James Talarico in November’s U.S. Senate election.
Longtime GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn appears to have edged out state Attorney General Ken Paxton and finished far ahead of Rep. Wesley Hunt in Tuesday’s Republican primary, major news organizations have reported.
But neither Cornyn nor Paxton garnered over 50% of the vote and as a result will face each other in a May runoff. The Texas GOP primary has already been an incredibly expensive affairs and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has reportedly asked Trump to go ahead and endorse Cornyn
Meanwhile, state Sen. Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, an outspoken two-term congresswoman in the Democratic primary.
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who served until 1993, was the last Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas.
Texas is home to the Department of Energy’s Pantex Plant, the Waste Control Specialists disposal site as well as a couple of active commercial nuclear power plants.