Texas Republicans headed to the polls Tuesday in a make-or-break Senate runoff — and for at least one voter, President Donald Trump's endorsement didn't seal the deal. It backfired.
CNN caught up with two Republican voters outside a Plano polling location on Election Day, and their reactions to Trump's last-minute backing of Attorney General Ken Paxton told two very different stories about the state of the GOP.
The first voter said Trump's endorsement was the deciding factor — pushing him away from Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and toward Paxton. "I was torn because I was gonna go with Cornyn," he said. "But when Trump backed [Paxton] — I like who he backs."
The second voter went the other way entirely.
"I made one vote, and that was for Cornyn," he told CNN's Arlette Saenz. "Primarily because he's not supported by Trump."
When Saenz pressed him, he didn't mince words. "I think he's ruined my Republican party," he said of Trump. "I think he's divided America. I think he's bad news. And I still lean Republican, so I voted for Cornyn."
NOTUS White House reporter Jasmine Wright, appearing on CNN, said the exchange captured a split that's playing out statewide. "You're literally seeing the 80-20, 70-30 split that we see represented in polling," she said, adding that the White House is banking on the majority holding. "This question that we continue to ask — whether or not Trump still holds a vice grip on the Republican Party — continues to show us yes, yes, and yes."
Trump amplified that grip Tuesday morning, resharing a post urging Texans to "Get the RINOs out now" while calling Paxton the country's best attorney general.
Cornyn, meanwhile, made his closing argument on Fox News, hammering Paxton's scandal-ridden record. "Texans have learned that you can't trust what Paxton says," he said, citing Paxton's impeachment by a Republican-led House and a $6.6 million whistleblower judgment against him.
The winner faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
