Cornyn says GOP ‘forgot how to win’ under Trump

Outgoing Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) issued his own analysis Wednesday after the GOP suffered major losses across the country and in the Lone Star State in Tuesday’s midterms.

The four-term senator reflected on the party’s defeat in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal, titled “Republicans Forgot How to Win Elections.”

“This week’s beat-down wasn’t only foreseeable, it was foreseen,” the Republican wrote.

Cornyn, who lost his seat in the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, said the party failed to satisfy “four basic rules of coalition politics” this election cycle.

He outlined the key tenets as broad voter appeal, candidate likeability, promise delivery and integrity.

On his first point about electoral appeal, the senator noted that “successful coalitions add, they don’t subtract.” He pointed to the GOP’s 2024 wins among white working-class voters, Latino men and Black voters.

“This year, losing candidates like Ken Paxton and Mike Collins shrank the tent, obsessing over ‘RINOs’ and political theater,” he wrote.

Cornyn also cited GOP candidate Bo French’s loss in the Texas railroad commissioner race . The Republican nominee lost the support of some within his party, after GOP lawmakers like Cornyn accused him of engaging in “blatant bigotry” against college students of South Asian descent.

More broadly, the Texas senator said the GOP suffered from a deficit in likeable candidates and said the party has engaged in a “strange reverse personality test” that favors performance over authenticity.

“This is a losing mindset that Republicans must outgrow,” Cornyn said, adding, “It selects for nominees who can’t win general elections.”

The senator cited the Trump administration’s failures to deliver on his 2024 campaign promises to bring down rising costs and boost employment opportunities. President Trump’s approval rating has taken a hit amid rising fuel costs and inflation during the Iran war and his administration’s trade fight with Canada.

“Americans elected the Donald Trump who put on the apron of the Golden Arches and got a plan for a Triumphal Arch instead,” Cornyn wrote.

Lastly, the GOP senator expressed shortcomings in character and integrity among Republican candidates this election cycle.

“Voters won’t trust Republicans to cut fraud and scams out of government programs until we cut them out of our own ranks,” he wrote.

Cornyn alluded to his primary race against Paxton in Texas but did not mention the attorney general by name. Paxton has faced a series of controversies during his time in state leadership related to his personal conduct and felony security fraud indictments.

“When Republicans force voters to choose between policy and personal character, it is unfair to them and suicidal for us,” he wrote. “Here in Texas, traditional conservatives and independents were asked to swallow an almost comical list of personal scandals and improprieties.”

Despite Tuesday’s losses, Cornyn wrote that he remains “optimistic” about his party’s ability to chart a successful political future.

“We know what the American people want because they showed us: a big-tent Republican Party, competent, focused on Americans’ daily concerns, with room for traditional conservatives and MAGA supporters alike,” the senator wrote.

“That is the path back to a governing majority in 2028,” he continued. “Anyone who is willing to turn the page, restore integrity and rebuild our party can count me in.”