Outgoing Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) offered a blunt postmortem of his party's midterm losses on Wednesday, arguing in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that Republicans have "forgot how to win elections." The four-term senator, who lost his primary to state Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier this year, said the GOP's sweeping defeats—including in his home state—were not a surprise but a predictable outcome of abandoning core political principles.
Cornyn laid out what he called "four basic rules of coalition politics": broad voter appeal, candidate likeability, delivery on promises, and integrity. He argued that successful parties expand their base rather than shrink it, and he pointed to the GOP's 2024 gains among working-class voters, Latino men, and Black voters as evidence of what works. "This year, losing candidates like Ken Paxton and Mike Collins shrank the tent, obsessing over 'RINOs' and political theater," he wrote.
The senator also highlighted the defeat of Republican railroad commissioner candidate Bo French, who lost support after facing accusations of bigotry against South Asian students—an episode that Cornyn said underscored a broader problem with candidate quality. "This is a losing mindset that Republicans must outgrow," he wrote. "It selects for nominees who can't win general elections."
Cornyn took aim at the party's tendency to reward performance over authenticity, calling it a "strange reverse personality test." He argued that voters are looking for genuine leaders, not political entertainers. The senator also faulted the Trump administration for failing to deliver on 2024 campaign promises to lower costs and boost employment, noting that rising fuel prices and inflation during the Iran war and the trade dispute with Canada have eroded public confidence. "Americans elected the Donald Trump who put on the apron of the Golden Arches and got a plan for a Triumphal Arch instead," he quipped.
Integrity, Cornyn insisted, is non-negotiable. "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. He alluded to his primary battle with Paxton, who has faced felony securities fraud indictments and a series of personal scandals, without naming him directly. "When Republicans force voters to choose between policy and personal character, it is unfair to them and suicidal for us," Cornyn wrote. "Here in Texas, traditional conservatives and independents were asked to swallow an almost comical list of personal scandals and improprieties."
Despite the drubbing, Cornyn struck an optimistic tone, insisting the party can rebound. "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," he wrote. "That is the path back to a governing majority in 2028. Anyone who is willing to turn the page, restore integrity and rebuild our party can count me in."
Cornyn's critique comes as the Wall Street Journal's editorial board also blamed Trump for the GOP's rout, and as the party faces an existential reckoning heading into 2028. Meanwhile, Trump addressed the nation from a White House construction site in the wake of the losses, offering no mea culpa. Cornyn's op-ed signals a growing intra-party battle over the path forward, with some conservatives calling for a return to traditional coalition-building while others double down on the former president's confrontational style.
