🤠 Paxton Defeats Cornyn in Texas — Trump’s Endorsement Decides the Most Expensive Senate Primary in History

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday’s Republican Senate runoff election, winning the nomination for the seat that could decide control of the Senate’s current 53-47 Republican majority. Paxton, endorsed by Trump just one week before the vote, bested Cornyn in what became the most expensive Senate primary in American history. He now faces Democrat James Talarico in November in a race national Republicans acknowledge will require significant outside spending to defend. Trump called Paxton “a true MAGA Warrior” and said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough,” according to Fox News.

Cornyn, who voted with Trump 99.3% of the time by his own count, had warned that Paxton’s legal baggage would force the party to spend millions defending a seat it has held comfortably for decades. Talarico raised $27 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone and defeated progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary. Paxton, for his part, argued the race came down to a genuine ideological difference: “I don’t know if we could be more different on the Republican issues than John Cornyn and me.” Pre-runoff polling showed both Paxton and Cornyn in a statistical dead heat with Talarico at 45% each in November head-to-heads, Texas Tribune reported.

Conservatives who want to hold the Senate should watch this race closely. Paxton is a genuine conservative fighter with a record of taking on the federal government in court on border security, election integrity, and constitutional rights. He is also a nominee with settled securities fraud charges, an impeachment acquittal, and a very messy personal life that Democrats will spend millions advertising to independent voters in the Houston and Dallas suburbs. Whether his strength in a Republican primary translates to a general election in a changing state is the central question of the 2026 cycle.

🔫 Fourth Incident of Gunfire Near Trump in a Month — White House Gunman Killed Saturday

A 21-year-old man named Nasire Best opened fire on a Secret Service checkpoint outside the White House on Saturday evening, firing between 15 and 30 shots toward the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue before Secret Service officers returned fire and killed him. A bystander was wounded in the crossfire and underwent surgery; he was reported in serious but stable condition. Trump was in the White House at the time but was not in danger. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed agents were assisting the investigation, according to CBS News and NPR.

Best had prior encounters with the Secret Service, including a July 2025 incident in which he attempted to gain entry to the White House and was sent to a psychiatric ward. Trump, posting after midnight, said Best had a “violent history and possible obsession” with the White House and linked the incident to last month’s Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, saying it underscored his desire for the most secure presidential complex ever built in Washington. It was the fourth incident involving gunfire in or near the president’s vicinity since April, Newsweek reported.

The Founders who built the republic understood that political violence against its leaders attacks the institution, not just the individual. Four incidents in a month is a pattern. The pattern deserves a frank national response, not partisan framing about who is to blame. The Secret Service, which has now successfully stopped every incident, deserves recognition for doing its job under the most extreme conditions any protection detail in modern history has faced.

🇱🇧 Israel Strikes 100+ Hezbollah Sites in Lebanon — Ceasefire in Name Only

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized intensified strikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon this week, with Israeli forces striking more than 100 sites in the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon overnight Monday. An airstrike on the village of Mashghara in the eastern Beqaa killed 12 people, according to Lebanese state media. Israeli forces have also begun pushing north of the Litani River, clashing with Hezbollah fighters along a strategic waterway. Netanyahu told the public that Israel has killed more than 600 Hezbollah militants in recent weeks and has ordered his commanders to “press the gas pedal even harder,” according to NBC News/AP and Washington Times/AP.

The April ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has become nominal. Hezbollah has continued launching fiber optic-guided drone attacks against Israeli military positions while Israel has conducted near-daily strikes since March. Over a million Lebanese have been displaced. More than 3,100 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2. Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are scheduled to meet for direct talks in Washington this week, three days after the Litani clashes, and Iran has made clear it wants any broader peace deal to include an end to the Lebanon fighting, Xinhua/Reuters reported.

The Founders who gave Congress the war power understood that conflicts without defined objectives tend to expand. The Iran war, the Lebanon conflict, and now the Cuba situation represent three separate theaters of potential military action that the administration has either initiated or is considering. Whether there is a coherent strategic framework connecting these decisions is not yet clear from the outside.

🏥 Trump, Turning 80 in June, Gets Physical — Reports “Everything Checked Out Perfectly”

President Trump traveled to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday for what the White House described as a routine annual medical and dental checkup. He is 79 and turns 80 on June 14, making him the oldest person ever inaugurated as president. After the exam, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Just finished my 6 month physical at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Everything checked out PERFECTLY. Thank you to the great Doctors and Staff! Heading back to the White House.” It was his fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since returning to office, according to Washington Examiner and Washington Times.

The White House has not yet released detailed results from the exam. Previous physicals have included blood tests and cognitive, cardiac, pulmonary, and dermatologic evaluations. In April and October 2025, his physician Dr. Sean Barbabella reported Trump was in “exceptional health.” Questions about the president’s health have persisted through his second term, with public appearances showing visible bruising on his hands, which the White House attributes to handshaking and regular aspirin use, and occasional moments of apparent drowsiness. Trump scored 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in both 2018 and 2025, according to STAT News.

The public’s right to understand the physical and cognitive condition of its president is not a partisan concern. It was not a partisan concern when Joe Biden’s health was the subject of scrutiny, and it is not a partisan concern now. A 79-year-old commander in chief managing an active naval blockade, an intensifying conflict in Lebanon, and a potential Cuba situation is a president who owes the republic full transparency about his health. The White House should release the complete results.

🌴 California Governor Primary Is One Week Away — And Democrats Are Finally Consolidating

A new Emerson College poll released this week shows former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra leading California’s governor’s race for the first time at 19%, with Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer tied at 17%, and Democrat Katie Porter at 10%. Becerra’s support has risen nine points since mid-April, driven by his consolidation among Democratic voters at 31%. The June 2 primary is one week away, with ballots already in voters’ hands. Democrats have been pressing for consolidation behind a single candidate to avoid the nightmare scenario of two Republicans advancing to November under California’s top-two primary system, according to Emerson College Polling and CalMatters.

A separate Democratic Party internal poll released this week showed Hilton and Becerra virtually tied at 22% and 21%. Steyer, who has spent more than $140 million on the race, still sits at 15-17% and has not consolidated the voters needed to clearly separate himself from the Democratic field. Hilton’s voters are the most committed of any candidate’s, with 73% saying they will definitely vote for him. Becerra and Steyer voters remain more persuadable, with roughly half of each candidate’s supporters saying they could still change their mind, Emerson reported.

California has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection in 2006. The state’s demographics strongly favor Democrats. But if Democratic voters remain split between Becerra and Steyer through June 2, Hilton and Bianco could both advance to November. Republicans should be watching this closely and maximizing turnout.

⚖️ Federal Court Blocks Alabama GOP Map — Sets Up Supreme Court Showdown Before Midterms

A three-judge federal panel in Birmingham issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking Alabama from using a Republican-drawn congressional map for the November midterms, ruling that the map “intentionally discriminated based on race” by including only one district where Black voters make up a majority or close to it. The court requires Alabama to continue using the 2024 court-ordered map that includes two such districts. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall immediately pledged to appeal to the Supreme Court, setting up a possible emergency ruling before November. Republicans had hoped the new map would allow them to reclaim the seat held by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, according to AP/US News and NBC News.

The ruling comes after the Supreme Court recently sent the case back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of its decision in Louisiana v. Callais. The three-judge panel concluded that even under the new VRA standard, Alabama’s map still constituted intentional racial discrimination. Florida’s new Republican-drawn map, which is projected to give the GOP control of four additional House districts, has not yet been challenged. Republican redistricting attorneys said the Alabama ruling is likely to be reversed on appeal, CNBC/AP reported.

This redistricting battle is fundamentally about which party controls the House after November. The courts are now the primary arena for that fight, with multiple states’ maps in active litigation. The Founders who wrote the Constitution’s equal protection clause were trying to protect citizens from government discrimination based on characteristics they cannot change. Courts that apply that principle consistently, regardless of which party benefits, are doing their job correctly.

🎰 Nevada Primary Is Two Weeks Away — 52,600 Ballots Already Cast as Early Voting Kicks Off

Nevada’s June 9 primary is underway, with more than 52,600 ballots already cast since early voting began May 23 and mail ballots went out statewide. Over 41,000 of those were mail ballots, with another 11,600 cast in-person at early voting centers over Memorial Day weekend. Early voting runs through June 5 at locations across Clark and Washoe counties, with Election Day polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nevada sends mail ballots to all active registered voters under its universal mail ballot law unless they explicitly opt out — 87% of active registered voters used a mail ballot at least once in either 2022 or 2024, according to Nevada Current and the Nevada Secretary of State.

Nevada’s primary is a closed election — only registered Republicans and Democrats vote in their respective party primaries. Key statewide races include the Republican primary for governor, a competitive Senate race, and four contested US House seats including the open CD2 seat in Northern Nevada that has drawn eight Republican candidates. The June 9 primary is critical for setting up November’s general election, where Nevada’s governor’s mansion and at minimum one US House seat are considered genuine tossup races in a state that has swung between parties in recent cycles, according to Fox 5 Las Vegas.

Nevada is one of the most closely watched states in the 2026 midterm cycle. It has a Democratic governor and a Republican-leaning presidential history, making its statewide races genuinely competitive. Voters who have not yet cast their ballots have until June 5 for early voting or June 9 for Election Day. Mail ballots postmarked by June 9 are accepted through June 13 at 5 p.m.