U.S. Sen. John Cornyn trounced a conservative Texas congressman Tuesday night to claim the Republican nomination, a victory that could ease his path to re-election after some tea party activists targeted him as too moderate.
The Senate’s No. 2 Republican as minority whip, Cornyn has often been named among the chamber’s most conservative members, but hasn’t been endorsed by Texas’ junior senator, conservative firebrand Ted Cruz. Some leading grass-roots groups in Texas have also decried Cornyn as too entrenched in Washington and too cozy with the GOP establishment.