Texas

June 12 (UPI) — A federal judge blocked a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.

In a 15-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns granted ActBlue a preliminary injunction banning Paxton from continuing the litigation, finding that ActBlue was likely to win in its claims that the suit infringed on its First Amendment’s free-speech protections.

The judge said the suit was filed in retaliation of ActBlue raising funds for James Talarico, who is running for Senate against Paxton.

“The lawsuit in Texas is undoubtedly an adverse action,” Stearns wrote in the order. “And having previously found bad faith, the court agrees with ActBlue that the evidence in the record compels the conclusion that, far from protecting Texas consumers, the action was filed in retaliation for ActBlue’s fundraising on behalf of Talarico, Paxton’s current political rival for the Senate seat.”

Paxton began an investigation in 2023 against the organization for allegedly enabling international donors to make gifts through gift cards and prepaid debit cards. President Donald Trump requested the investigation before he was re-elected. Paxton filed suit in April.

“The truth is plain and captured in Paxton’s own declarations: The lawsuit was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund [James] Talarico’s campaign,” Stearns ruled.

ActBlue sued in Boston to stop Paxton, claiming Paxton’s suit was “rife with false and inflammatory allegations” and was filed soon after a $2 million funding day for Talarico. ActBlue is based in Massachusetts.

“Paxton’s public statements in the wake of filing the case against ActBlue reveal his true motivation,” Stearns wrote. “While a prosecutor is entitled to a large degree of prosecutorial discretion and has a right to make a considered public accounting of his actions, Paxton did not hesitate in drawing a connection between the lawsuit and his candidacy for Senate.”

Paxton had alleged that ActBlue had misrepresented itself to donors.

“The platform does nothing more than facilitate political donations from private donors, who seek out its convenience, anonymity and aggregation of the benefit bestowed on chosen political candidates,” Stearns ruled.

WASHINGTON — Democrats’ path to winning control of the Senate probably runs through Maine — where voters were set to head to the polls Tuesday after several days of growing party anxiety about Graham Platner, who has faced a string of controversies as the likely Democratic candidate.

Democrats not just in Maine but around the country — including in Texas, Iowa and other red states where the party’s mission to flip Senate seats would become more urgent if its prospects in Maine faltered — were closely watching Platner’s performance in Tuesday’s primary.

“They’ve probably become if not less optimistic, at least more nervous over the last 10 days or so,” said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine.

Democrats face a challenging map as they seek to regain control of both chambers of Congress and claw back power in Washington. Unseating Sen. Susan Collins, the veteran Maine Republican, has been viewed as one of the party’s best chances, Brewer said.

Platner’s primary opponent, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in late April, clearing his path. He is generally expected to prevail as the Democratic nominee, but what percentage of his party’s vote he captures could help indicate how strong his candidacy will be in the general election, said John Cluverius, director of survey research for the Center for Public Opinion at UMass Lowell, which has conducted polling on the race.

“It’s critical [for Democrats], because without Maine, to win back the Senate you would need to win in states that Donald Trump won overwhelmingly,” Cluverius said.

Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran, emerged as a political outsider and quickly gained popularity.

But apparent scandals followed him. The latest came Thursday, when the New York Times reported that three ex-girlfriends of Platner’s had described his behavior as volatile and, by one account, physically rough. Platner, who denied the latter allegation, had previously addressed controversies related to his texting of women outside his marriage, a Nazi-style tattoo and old Reddit posts.

Over the weekend, Platner projected confidence. He took questions from audience members at a Sunday town hall, and on Friday, the campaign saw its best fundraising day since Mills suspended her bid opposing Platner for the nomination, bringing in $200,000 in 24 hours, a campaign official said.

“Since the beginning, Maine, you had my back,” Platner told supporters at a Friday rally. He drew a standing ovation when he continued: “Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated and weaponized, you have my back.”

Platner described the allegations against him as “politically motivated” and false.

The controversies surrounding him could help Collins, who has a track record as a political survivor, Brewer said. In 2020, the last time Collins was reelected, polls predicted she would lose to her Democratic opponent, but she secured reelection, even as the state went for Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race.

“Her position has probably improved over the last few weeks,” Brewer said. “She has mostly stayed out of the way on this and let the negative stories pile up.

Last week, Democratic leaders largely stood by Platner, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated the party would continue to back him. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) campaigned with him at the Friday rally. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) recorded a call to prospective voters on his behalf, and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) appeared at a virtual fundraiser, according to a source familiar with the plans.

The political calculus comes down to whether “they would rather have a Senate majority with Graham Platner in it than a Senate minority without Graham Platner in it,” Culverius said.

Democrats must flip at least four Republican seats to take control of the Senate, a difficult task. The Maine seat is the only possible Democratic flip in a state that went for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024 rather than for President Trump.

Democrats are also looking for victory in Texas, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina or Alaska, all states that went for Trump in 2024. The party must additionally retain their seats in competitive races in Michigan, New Hampshire and Georgia.

How Platner affects his party’s chances of taking Senate control depends on what happens next, Brewer said.

“What else are we going to see? And I don’t know that anybody knows that at this point,” Brewer said. “I think that’s really what Democrats have to worry about the most. Is this as bad as it gets, or is there other stuff?”

Voters are willing to overlook scandal more readily than in the past, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. And in these midterm elections, Democratic voters view the stakes as “extremely high.”

“Most voters are looking at the prospect of winning and losing,” he said. “Parties are worried about getting the win.”

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has been granted a temporary injunction that allows him to practice and play with the Red Raiders in 2026 despite having been permanently banned by the NCAA for wagering on college sports.

Texas judge Ken Curry ruled Monday that the NCAA cannot block Sorsby’s final year of eligibililty. The Cincinnati transfer will have to miss the first two games of the season as one of the conditions of the ruling.

In his ruling, Curry stated that Sorsby would “suffer a probable, imminent and irreparable injury” without the injunction by missing out on the “elite coaching, training resources, camaraderie, and regimen that only being a member of a Division I college football team can provide.”

“I’m very grateful for the endless support I have received throughout this entire process. I am also grateful for the chance to rejoin my teammates,” Sorsby wrote in a statement posted Monday on Instagram. “This opportunity comes with the responsibility to remain focused on my personal growth, the ability to learn from this experience, and to be able to use my situation to help others going forward.”

The NCAA can appeal the injunction but did not immediately indicate its next steps in the matter. It is unclear how long such a process would take. Texas Tech’s season starts Sept. 5, with Sorsby first eligible to play when the Red Raiders host Houston on Sept. 18.

“The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in Sorsby’s case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports,” the association said in a statement.

“The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one’s own sport.”

Last month, Sorsby’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in Lubbock County District Court requesting that he be declared eligible for all team activities because the NCAA “failed to comply with its contractual commitments” to him as a student athlete and therefore “is precluded from enforcing its gambling bylaws against Mr. Sorsby to deny or withhold his reinstatement.”

Sorsby spent two years at Indiana and two at Cincinnati before transferring to Texas Tech this offseason for a reported multimillion-dollar deal. In late April, he and Texas Tech jointly announced that he had entered a residential treatment program for gambling addiction and would be away from the team for an indefinite period of time.

According to court records, Sorsby has admitted to betting at least $90,000 during his time as an NCAA student athlete, including 40 bets on Indiana football games he was not participating in as a freshman backup with the Hoosiers in 2022.

NCAA guidelines state that student athletes who bet on their own games or on other sports at their school could “potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility.” Texas Tech was informed of an NCAA investigation into Sorsby’s gambling activity in March, according to court records, and declared him ineligible according to the association’s bylaws.

The NCAA has since denied two petitions from Texas Tech to have Sorsby’s eligibility reinstated.

“As we have said before, we do not believe that the circumstances of Brendan’s case warranted permanent ineligibility,” Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said Monday in a statement. “As he returns to our football program, we remain committed to supporting Brendan’s recovery and ensuring his compliance with the court’s order. A comprehensive support structure, including clinical care, monitoring, and compliance checks, will remain fully in place for the duration of Brendan’s time as a student at Texas Tech.”

Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks, a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, told Yahoo Sports that there should “be serious conversations about not playing Texas Tech in any sports” as a result of Monday’s decision.

“This is not about Texas Tech. It’s about protecting our own locker room,” Brooks said. “We cannot in good conscience put our student-athletes on a field where the competitive integrity of the contest is compromised and overridden by the courts.

“All [Football Bowl Subdivision] schools should only take the field against programs operating under a uniform, trustworthy standard of fairness. We’ve officially reached the point of no return.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A pilot and co-pilot from the United States have died in a fiery plane crash as they attempted an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

The incident occurred Sunday near the southern coastal town of La Romana, according to a statement by the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, which identified the pilot and co-pilot as U.S. citizens. It wasn’t immediately known what caused the crash. No passengers were aboard.

Major League Baseball All-Star former catcher Yadier Molina said on social media that the plane was bound for Texas to pick him up, along with family and friends.

“My condolences to the pilots and their family!” he wrote. Molina and his group were headed to Puerto Rico.

Officials said the plane had departed from Puerto Rico and landed in the Dominican Republic to refuel before heading to Texas.

The pilot and co-pilot reported an emergency shortly after taking off from the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

June 6 (UPI) — A second case of New World screwworm was confirmed in Texas this week in a one-month old calf nearly six miles from where the first case was detected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the second confirmed case on Friday, which was detected in Zavala County, Texas, but 5.6 miles away from the first one.

The second case was confirmed just 24 hours after the first, which had been detected in a three-week old calf, and has spurred the USDA to step up surveillance, as well as take other actions to prevent the infestation from spreading.

New World screwworm is spread by flies that lay their eggs in the exposed flesh of living animals — livestock, pets, wildlife and humans are all susceptible — and when the fly larvae, or maggots, emerge from the eggs they burrow through muscle as they grow.

Although screwworm was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, severe infestations in recent years in Central America slowly moved toward the southern border and was detected here in 2025, according to the USDA.

“With our partners in Texas, we are responding with speed and strength,” the USDA said in a statement about the second case that was posted on X.

“We have defeated this pest before, and we will do it again,” the agency said. “America’s livestock producers have USDA’s FULL support.”

The primary way of controlling the spread of New World screwworm is a combination of trapping flies for testing, implementing detection and quarantine zones where it confirmed, and releasing sterile flies into the area it has been detected to prevent infected insects from reproducing, the agency said.

The USDA has encouraged people in the area of the two cases to check their pets and livestock for draining or enlarging wounds, if not maggots or eggs around bodily opening such as the nose, ears or genitals, or around the navel of newborn animals.

Although screwworm infection in humans is relatively rare, the infestations can happen in ways similar to animals and require immediate medical attention.

Around 7 a.m. Saturday, in a lot beside the shuttered Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, a strange set of cars and trucks began to gather. Three Model A’s. A couple of ’60 convertibles. A 1964 Chevrolet Impala station wagon. Also, a big bull on trailer wheels.

“Am I in the right place?” asked a man in one of the Model A’s.

“Going to Chicago?” asked a guy in a white Denali.

“I wish I could do the whole thing,” said Joe Hernandez of Pasadena, wistfully standing by.

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This was the starting line for roughly 70 drivers who gathered to celebrate the centennial of Route 66 with a 2,448-mile, 20-day caravan to Chicago. Most had come from outside California to share an adventure with fellow “roadies” and boost awareness of the classic scenery and independent businesses along the eight-state route.

But soaring gas prices and hesitant international travelers have added uncertainty to a trip that was always going to be a logistical challenge. Day 1 alone might terrify an L.A. commuter: From the Pacific to Pasadena by surface streets, including miles on Santa Monica and Colorado boulevards.

“I don’t know how it’s all going to happen,” said Gary Daggett, president of the Old Route 66 Assn. of Texas. But he and his wife, Stephanie, have more than a little Route 66 experience to draw upon.

Mike and Lisa Visket of Prescott, Ariz., pose in Santa Monica at the pier in their Route 66 clothing on June 6, 2026.

“This is our 30th trip over 20 years,” Daggett said. “You can’t see everything. There’s so much…. You start meeting the people, you get hooked on the people.”

Shortly before their 8:30 departure time, organizer Rhys Martin called drivers together.

“Leaving here is going to be a little complicated,” he said.

Martin, who is part of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, is president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Assn., and serves as manager of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preserve Route 66 initiative. For the journey, he is driving a ’64 Chevy Impala station wagon with a GPS unit inside so that armchair travelers can follow his journey on the web.

“It’s going to be impossible to keep everybody together,” he said during preparations. “We’re encouraging people to spread out and support independent businesses rather than all going to one place and demolishing the kitchen.”

William Cooke of Pinon Hills participates in a caravan from Santa Monica Pier to Chicago, celebrating the centennial of Route 66.

In song and literature, the route is celebrated as an east-to-west journey. This caravan, running in the opposite direction, will travel from California through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri to Illinois.

From Santa Monica, the Day 1 schedule took drivers to Beverly Hills City Hall, Grand Central Market downtown for lunch, the Chicken Boy statue and Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Highland Park, then an overnight in Pasadena.

Day 2 takes the group from Pasadena to Barstow. Day 3, from Barstow to Needles. On June 25, the caravan is due to arrive in downtown Chicago.

The loose procession was led by a core group of 15 cars, including representatives of all eight states on the route. Since anyone can join or leave the caravan at any time, the number of vehicles will vary by the hour.

Through the decades, the road has grown from an American artifact into a global symbol of small-town Americana. Many merchants, restaurateurs and hoteliers along 66 now say that their summer customers are mostly travelers from abroad, especially Europe. One of the caravan’s drivers, in a rented pickup truck, was Dries Bessels, co-founder of the Dutch Route 66 Assn.

Brady Wilson of Amarillo, Texas, displays an assortment of Route 66 pins on his cowboy hat. Wilson is part of a caravan of Route 66 enthusiasts who set out from Santa Monica Pier on June 6, 2026, for Chicago.

Though the Model A’s will surely raise eyebrows on the road, the caravan’s most startling element is the fiberglass bull representing the Amarillo-based Big Texan Steak Ranch restaurant, one of the event’s sponsors.

“It’s the same one my dad brought home in ’71. His name is Big Moo,” said Danny Lee, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother, Bobby Lee. “He’s 12 and a half feet high. About 500 pounds. It’s all fiberglass.”

In 21 cities along the drive, the Big Texan team aims to stage nightly steak-eating contests, giving free dinners to anyone who can eat 72 ounces of steak, a baked potato, three shrimp, a side salad and a roll in 60 minutes.

The caravan’s first challenge came at the Santa Monica Pier, where there was no room for the cars due to a construction project, World Cup preparations and a Children’s Hospital fundraiser. Instead, the caravan gathered by the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Drivers strolled over the pier for a photo op, then returned to their cars.

“Herding cats,” said George Kulakowski of Huntington Beach, at the wheel of a 1931 Ford Model A Panel Delivery truck.

Participants in a Route 66 centennial caravan pose for a photo before they depart from Santa Monica Pier on June 2, 2026, for Chicago along the historic highway.

Another challenge awaited in West Hollywood, where Santa Monica Boulevard (aka Route 66) was busy with crowds for the city’s WeHo Pride Street Fair. By plans laid ahead of time, most caravan vehicles detoured around the party while select caravan cars followed a police escort through the action.

This way, Martin said, “another community along Route 66 gets to share its identity with the community at large.”

Allison Lehn of Boston participates in a caravan from Santa Monica Pier to Chicago, celebrating the centennial of Route 66.

By 11:15 a.m., Martin’s car had reached Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. Meanwhile, assorted other parades and caravans are traveling Route 66 in other states this year; most of them concentrate on short segments.

By 12:45 p.m., caravaners had met the mayor of Beverly Hills and rolled through West Hollywood’s Pride festivities, arriving at Grand Central Market, running slightly ahead of time.

On May 30, an estimated 3,596 classic cars joined a “Capital Cruise” on Route 66 in Tulsa, Okla., becoming a Guinness Book of World Records holder for the largest parade of classic cars, drawing an estimated 100,000 spectators and overwhelming local traffic.

In Arizona, the Williams Historic Route 66 Car Show was set for Friday and Saturday. In Texas, the Amarillo-based Texas Route 66 Festival is running Thursday through June 13.

William Cooke of Pinon Hills, left, and Sarah Jane Woodall of Tecopa, Calif., drive along Wilshire Boulevard in a 1960 Edsel Ranger Convertible as part of a Route 66 centennial caravan.

In those states and beyond, the caravan from Santa Monica will find hotels and motels in every kind of condition, vintage neon, road food, blue states, red states and purple states.

As a package of Times stories described in May, some landmarks date to the highway’s days as a scene of Depression desperation in the 1930s, others to its giddy postwar years in the late 1940s and ‘50s.

Route 66 was created in 1926 as a highway stitching together hundreds of local roads. Nicknamed “the Main Street of America” by its boosters and “the Mother Road” by John Steinbeck in “The Grapes of Wrath,” the highway inspired Bobby Troup’s song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” in 1946.

But economic life along Route 66 has been precarious since the late 1960s, when interstate highways and chain hotels began stealing traffic away from the older, slower road. After Route 66 was decommissioned as a highway in 1985, about 85% of the old route remained in use, often as small-town thoroughfares, country highways and frontage roads alongside Interstate 40.

Efforts to save and rebuild the route as a historic resource began in the late 1980s and gained ground after the 2006 release of the Pixar/Disney animated features “Cars,” which tells the story of the highway’s rise and fall. In small towns such as Tucumcari, N.M., and Seligman, Ariz., the highway remains central to local identity and economy.

A vehicle in the Route 66 caravan is photographed June 6, 2026.

This year’s centennial improvements along the route “are things that are going to go into the future,” Martin said. “The real impact is going to be next year and the years after.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — Teagan Kavan struck out five in the final two innings to back a strong start from Citlaly Gutierrez, and Kayden Henry homered to lead Texas to a 4-1 victory over Texas Tech on Thursday night at the Women’s College World Series for a second straight national championship.

Texas trailed 1-0 after four innings, but a bases-loaded throwing error by shortstop Hailey Toney allowed two unearned runs to score in the fifth for a 2-1 lead.

Henry homered off Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady — in her final collegiate game — to begin the seventh and Leighann Goode singled to drive in the final run.

Gutierrez (11-3) allowed one run on three hits in 4⅓ innings. Kavan notched her fifth save.

Canady (29-7) went the distance and allowed four runs — two earned — on eight hits with three walks.

Lauren Allred had an RBI single in the third to put Texas Tech up 1-0.

Coach Mike White led Texas to the school’s second title in his eighth season.

Second-year coach Gerry Glasgo has led the Red Raiders to their only two WCWS appearances. Texas Tech fell 7-3 in the opener.

Texas won the rubber game of the three-game series against Texas Tech last season to claim its first title.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Two days after failing to capitalize off numerous scoring opportunities against Texas State, USC battered the Bobcats early and often to remain alive in the College Station Regional.

Third baseman Kevin Takeuchi set the tone with a grand slam in the first inning as USC beat Texas State 15-4 Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 6,885 at Blue Bell Park

With the victory, the Trojans (45-16) advance to the regional final against Texas A&M on Sunday night. The Trojans must beat the Aggies to force a winner-take-all game Monday at a time to be determined.

The Trojans avenged the 5-4 loss they suffered against Texas State on Friday night in the regional opener. In that loss, USC stranded 13 runners, struck out 12 times and left men in scoring position in each of the first seven innings.

The Trojans have been on a tear ever since. They crushed Lamar 19-6 on Saturday and then battered Texas State. The Trojans wasted no time jumping on the Bobcats in the rematch.

Abbrie Covarrubias led off with a single. Texas State sophomore right-hander Cade Smith then hit Adrian Lopez with a pitch and walked Augie Lopez to load the bases. Takeuchi followed with his grand slam to center.

“It just helped me pitch with freedom,” USC freshman starter Diego Velazquez said of the grand slam. “A pitcher always feels good when you’re in the lead, especially with a grand slam. It just keeps everyone positive, so it definitely helped very much.”

Velazquez gave up two runs on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. He was relieved by fellow freshman right-hander Gavin Lauridsen, who failed to retire a batter while giving up two runs on two hits and two walks. Freshman left-hander Sax Matson then pitched 3 ⅔ scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.

Isaac Cadena made it 6-0 in the third with a two-run home run to right field. With one on and two outs in the fourth, Augie Lopez hit an RBI single in the fourth to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead. Reliever Alec Beversdorf then walked Takeuchi and hit Cadena to load the bases. Jack Basseer drew a walk to plate another run to give USC an 8-0 lead, prompting Texas State to make another call to the bullpen.

Texas State countered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by Coy DeFury’s two-run home run.

Lauridsen relieved Velazquez with one out in the fourth, but he couldn’t retire a batter. Brady Boles greeted Lauridsen with a single up the middle. After Jackson Cotton walked, Manny Salas cut USC’s lead to 8-3 with an RBI single through the right side.

Clayton Namken followed with a walk, prompting USC coach Andy Stankiewicz to call on Matson, who took over with the bases loaded.

“I felt good about Diego on the mound here being able to compete and give us quality innings, and he did that,” Stankiewicz said. “I think he’d probably say he wanted to give us a little bit more, but he gave us three quality innings.

“And then Sax Matson came in and did a fantastic job. He came in and made some big, big-time pitches to get us out. It could have been a little dicey there.”

Both teams were retired in order in the fifth, but USC’s offense got back on track with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh and four more in the eighth.

“I think it just shows the type of bond we have all together,” Velazquez said. “We’re all pulling the rope for each other. I think it just shows how strong we are and how we’re able to pull off miracles and stuff.”

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — On a night when the crowd at Blue Bell Park saw some of the most majestic home runs you’ll see in college baseball, USC’s Andrew Johnson showed why pitching is still paramount.

The sophomore right-hander delivered arguably the most important pitching performance of the season for USC on Sunday night, beating Texas A&M 14-3 to propel the Trojans to a winner-take-all College Station Regional Final on Monday.

After needing five pitchers in a rout over Texas State earlier in the day just to reach the regional final out of the losers’ bracket, USC coach Andy Stankiewicz rode Johnson.

Two nights after throwing 21 pitches over 1⅔ innings, Johnson threw 124 pitches over 7⅓ strong innings to beat the host Aggies (41-14) before a crowd of 6,934.

“I’ll say this, I’ve been here [as USC’s head coach] four years,” Stankiewicz said. “That’s the best pitching performance I’ve seen in four years, hands down.

“In a big moment when we needed somebody to step up to take the ball, there hasn’t been a guy that’s done that as well as [he] did … this evening.”

Leading 11-2, Johnson retired the first batter in the top of the eighth inning before Nico Partida singled to right. Jake Duer followed with an RBI triple to right field, prompting a call to right-hander Rohan Kasanagottu.

Johnson (8-2) held the Aggies to three runs on nine hits and two home runs with one walk and four strikeouts. Kasanagottu added 1⅔ perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts.

“It was just basically [Stankiewicz] coming up to me and looking at me, and me just nodding at him,” Johnson said. “And he’s like, ‘All right, let’s go.’

“I don’t know if I’ve thrown 120-whatever before, but I honestly feel pretty good. I’ll pitch tomorrow if it [means] we’re going to win some more.”

USC junior Kevin Takeuchi bats against Texas A&M in the NCAA regionals on Sunday.

(Chris Mora / USC Athletics)

The Trojans (46-16) have scored 48 runs over three wins since falling into the losers’ bracket. They beat Lamar 19-6 on Saturday, and then they beat Texas State 15-4 on Sunday afternoon before pummeling the Aggies (41-15).

Chris Hacopian gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead with a home run in the first. The Trojans countered with four runs in the bottom of the inning with Kevin Takeuchi’s two-run single and Andrew Lamb’s two-run double.

“Yeah, we never want to lose,” Texas A&M coach Michael Earley said. “We never want to get our [butt] kicked. That always sucks, but it is what it is. It’s baseball.

“They beat us, period, from the freaking first pitch. But we got a game tomorrow, and we’re excited to get out there.”

Lamb greeted reliever Cooper Powell with a three-run home run over the right-field bleachers in the third inning. Augie Lopez gave USC a 9-1 lead with a two-run home run in the fourth.

Gavin Grahovac tagged Johnson for a monstrous solo home run to cut USC’s lead to 9-2 in the fifth. Lamb, who singled in the fifth, added another two-run double in the ninth.

“I’m going to flush this thing here in about five minutes,” Earley said. “We’re going to move forward and we’re going to come out tomorrow and get to play in front of our home crowd.

“What more could you want, man? What more could you want?”

That’s the same mentality USC has taken since losing their opener.

“I think we’re seeing the ball really well,” Takeuchi said. “We’re sticking to the middle of the field and kinda just letting the park do its thing. Just trying to put [the] barrel on the ball.

“But when you have pitching like these guys have been, they’ve been lights out. They keep us in every ballgame, so it’s really good for us to just be able to compete for them and kinda just to rack up the hits. I think we’re just seeing the ball really well, and we’re going to continue to do that tomorrow.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — Jordan Woolery nearly saved UCLA’s season Sunday night at the Women’s College World Series. She lined a single up the middle in the ninth inning off former teammate Kaitlyn Terry to score Rylee Slimp from second base and pull the Bruins within a run of Texas Tech.

But Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady replaced Terry in the circle and retired the final two batters, stranding Megan Grant at second in UCLA’s 8-7 season-ending loss.

Woolery, the nation’s RBIs leader, homered twice and drove in five runs for UCLA (53-10), which got nine innings and 181 pitches from workhorse Taylor Tinsley.

The Bruins struggled to gain traction against Terry, who joined Texas Tech following last season’s exit from the WCWS. Terry replaced Canady in the third inning and retired 10 of the first 11 batters she faced.

But in the seventh, UCLA scored three runs to force extra innings. Pinch-hitter Ramsey Suarez ignited the rally with a 270-foot home run to left field off Terry. Facing Canady, pinch-hitter Jazmine Leyva singled down the right-field line. Two batters later, Woolery blasted a 267-foot homer over the center-field wall to tie the score.

Despite the late heroics, it wasn’t enough to keep UCLA’s season alive. Texas Tech (59-8) will play Alabama (56-7) Monday at 4 p.m. PT.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — USC couldn’t hold on to the lead Adrian Lopez provided with a home run in the bottom of the eighth Friday night.

Texas State’s Chase Mora greeted reliever Adam Troy with a monstrous two-run home run to left field in the top of ninth inning, propelling the Bobcats to a 5-4 upset before a crowd of 6,956 at Blue Bell Park.

The Trojans had plenty of chances, and they wasted most of them in the opening round of the NCAA tournament’s College Station Regional.

Even though the Bobcats’ shaky defense spotted USC two unearned runs, the Trojans will surely lament stranding runners in scoring position in each of the first seven innings.

The Trojans will face Lamar University, which blew a five-run lead in a 7-5 loss against host Texas A&M, on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.

If coach Andy Stankiewicz’s Trojans return to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2001, the 12-time national champions must do it out of the losers bracket.

USC right-hander Grant Govel, an All-Big Ten First Team selection, settled for a no-decision after giving up three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 5⅔ innings.

He was relieved by freshman left-hander Sax Matson with one on and two outs in the top of the sixth. Matson escaped unscathed in the sixth, but he was relieved by right-hander Andrew Johnson with one on and two outs in the seventh.

The Trojans (43-16), who reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, have lost four of their last five games.

Mora’s sacrifice fly to right field gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Trojans countered to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the second.

With runners on first and second and two outs, Abbrie Covarrubias hit a grounder to first. Texas State first baseman Jaquae Stewart booted the grounder for an error, allowing Isaac Cadena to score. Stewart almost made the situation worse with a wild throw to second, but Dean Carpentier was thrown out trying to reach third on the poor throw to second.

The Trojans benefited from more poor defense in the third. With one out in the inning, Augie Lopez reached on an error by Mora at third. Kevin Takeuchi followed with a double off the center-field wall. Jack Basseer broke the tie with an RBI single through the left side.

Covarrubias hit a solo home run to left in the fourth to put USC ahead 3-1. Texas State sophomore shortstop Brady Boles, who entered the regional with only one home run this season and two in his college career, tied the score 3-3 with a two-run home run to left field in the top of the fifth.

We visited Houston in Texas where a rodeo, baseball, space and delicious food were on the jam-packed agenda. Here’s why you need to get planning your trip to the Lone Star State…

I’ve always wanted to visit Texas and what better time than rodeo season? Rodeo is a year-round pastime for Texans, but Houston holds the largest event in the US in March, with even more cowboy boots and hats descending upon the city than usual, a buzz of excitement and yee-haw in the air. Add in a Space Center visit and a baseball game and this trip to the Lone Star State isn’t one that I’ll forget in a hurry.

RIP-ROARING RODEO

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs across 21 days, with a carnival atmosphere, shows, music, energy and excitement. Inside the NRG Stadium, rodeo competitions – bull riding, barrel racing, saddle-bronc riding and roping – take place, while outside there’s livestock shows, exhibitions and loads more fun.

The fried food creations on offer are endless – think funnel cakes, jumbo corn dogs and deep-fried Oreos. “When in Texas,” we thought, as we ordered (and surprisingly enjoyed) a deep-fried cheesecake.

The rodeo is a jam-packed day and each night a musical superstar takes to the stage in the stadium. We got to see Texas native Kelly Clarkson putting on an impressive show as she bounced energetically around the rotating stage and reminding the 70,000-strong crowd just how many hits she has – naturally she finished her set with Since U Been Gone.

COWBOY COOL

To take in the atmosphere like a local, we wanted to be properly kitted out, so we visited the Republic Boot Co. I’ve never seen so many tempting rows of cowboy boots – and it’s not just a tourist trap, either. Drake is among the clientele of this cool spot.

As well as footwear, there’s a dedicated Hat Bar, where you can choose from a range of styles and colours, customising your hat however you like. My plan for a simple, understated look quickly changed when I saw the leather trims, feathers, charms and badges on offer. I walked out with my initials branded on and a playing card tucked behind a giant feather.

BASEBALL & BEERS

Go Astros! We headed to Daikin Park, the baseball stadium which is home to the Houston Astros, to watch a quarter-final of the World Baseball Classic where the US took on – and beat – Canada. It was my first time at a game, but you don’t need to be an expert to be caught up in the thrill – it’s relentless. Soon

I was willing a home run so I could see the Home Run Train chuff round the track in celebration. We didn’t need to be told twice to order the stadium’s signature Crawford Dog and settled happily into our seats with giant beers, feeling like we were at the movies.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Houston is known as Space City, so I couldn’t miss a visit to Space Center Houston, the official visitor centre of NASA, where astronauts train and Mission Control keeps everything on track. So soon after Artemis II’s moon mission, the place is still feeling the thrill of the historic exploration, and this is where you can really immerse yourself in all things astronautical.

The highlight was the tram tour to see the Astronaut Training Facility and Rocket Park, packed with actual rocket parts so you can see the incredible scale. It’s impossible not to get caught up in the excitement.

TASTE OF TEXAS

Texas is foodie heaven. Battling jet lag on our first night, we grabbed dinner at Agnes and Sherman, a short walk from our hotel, kicking things off on a real high. The cheeseburger fried rice has to be tasted to be believed.

For a great breakfast or brunch, head to Dandelion Cafe, where the generous-sized chicken waffles have been voted “best breakfast in the US” by Good Morning America. We were also told that Viet-Cajun crawfish was a must try, so we pulled on our bibs and gloves with enthusiasm at Crawfish & Noodles in Chinatown.

A little out of town in the seaside resort of Galveston, we discovered Gaido’s Seafood Restaurant, which has served seafood to hungry locals since 1911. We dined on delicious stuffed shrimp and gumbo, followed by the famous pecan pie, before a stroll on the waterfront.

But the most magical meal of our trip was at intimate indigenous restaurant Ishtia. Choctaw chef David Skinner is inspired by his heritage and ancestors and tells the story of each dish and its ingredients as they are served.

WHERE TO STAY

We stayed in Hotel Daphne, a stylish luxury boutique hotel in historic Houston Heights. The relaxed atmosphere was just our vibe, as was the bright, quirky decor and striped purple and blue bathrobes. Around this pretty neighbourhood we discovered cool shops and grand houses on tree-lined streets, but you don’t have to venture far for a cocktail. The hotel’s restaurant and bar, Hypsi, with a sun-filled courtyard that’s perfect for catching rays, is always there to welcome you at the end of a day of adventures.

HOW TO BOOK

BA and United Airlines offer direct flights to Houston from London Heathrow. Rooms at Hotel Daphne cost from £272 per night, see hyatt.com. Plan your trip with visithouston.com

OKLAHOMA CITY — UCLA, facing elimination in the Women’s College World Series on Friday night, erupted for nine runs in the second inning against Arkansas and rolled to an 11-0 win in five innings that ended the Razorbacks’ first appearance on college softball’s biggest stage.

The Bruins (53-9) got home runs in the inning from Aleena Garcia, Soo-Jin Berry and Megan Grant — her 42nd of the season and the 91st of her career, a program record. Kaniya Bragg homered to right field in the top of the fifth to make it 11-0.

The Razorbacks (47-13) were limited to three hits in five innings by UCLA starter Taylor Tinsley.

UCLA will play another elimination game at 4 p.m. PT Sunday when the Bruins face either Texas Tech, the defending national runner-up, or Tennessee.

Arkansas starter Payton Burnham didn’t last long against UCLA’s powerful lineup.

Garcia homered to lead off the second. Burnham hit Bragg with a pitch, Alexis Ramirez singled, and Berry launched a homer to left field to make it 4-0.

Saylor Timmerman replaced Burnham and walked Jolyna Lamar and Rylee Slimp before Grant crushed a 260-foot no-doubter that hit a metal fence beyond the wall in left-center field.

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal immigration officer wanted for shooting a Venezuelan man during the Trump administration’s Minnesota crackdown was arrested Friday in Texas, authorities said.

Christian Castro, of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, was taken into custody 11 days after Minneapolis prosecutors charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

Hennepin County, Minnesota prosecutors said the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension located Castro, 52, in Texas and worked with agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office and the Texas Rangers to arrest him.

“Today’s arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.

Online court records do not list an attorney for Castro and it wasn’t immediately clear if he has one. Messages seeking comment were left with ICE, the Homeland Security Inspector General’s Office and the Texas Rangers.

Castro is the second federal agent to be charged over their conduct during the Minnesota crackdown, which was known as Operation Metro Surge. He is one of two agents that ICE Director Todd Lyons said lied about the circumstances of the incident.

Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty holds up a document containing charges against ICE agent Christian Castro during a news conference at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, on Monday, May 18, 2026.

(Renée Jones Schneider/Minnesota Star Tribune Via Associated Press)

According to prosecutors, Castro fired through a home’s front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh after Castro and another officer chased a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to the Minneapolis apartment duplex where he and Sosa-Celis lived. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally in the U.S., Moriarty said.

Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. A federal judge later dismissed the charges, and ICE and the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether officers lied about what happened.

In a statement after the charges were announced, ICE said the U.S. attorney’s office was investigating statements made by officers, who could face disciplinary action including being fired and prosecuted. ICE called the Hennepin County attorney’s action “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt.” DHS’s Inspector General’s Office, which Moriarty credited with assisting in the arrest, is separate from ICE and is meant to serve as a watchdog for DHS agencies, including ICE.

Minneapolis last month released video showing the moments before Sosa-Celis’s shooting, captured from a distance by a city-owned security camera.

The video appears to show a person standing with a snow shovel outside the house, near the street, then retreating toward the house and tossing the shovel into the yard. This happens as a person being chased by another person runs up from the street, falls on the sidewalk, gets up, and keeps heading toward the house.

The three appear to scuffle near the front steps for about 10 seconds. The exact moment when Sosa-Celis is shot isn’t clear. A car with flashing lights pulls up, and another person walks up.

The Trump administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area as part of President Trump’s national deportation campaign and considered Operation Metro Surge a success.

But tensions mounted during the weekslong campaign, and the shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers sparked mass unrest and raised questions about officers’ conduct.

Minnesota leaders and the Trump administration have clashed over who has the authority to investigate and prosecute federal officers for on-duty conduct.

Moriarty’s office last month charged immigration agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with assault for allegedly pointing his gun at people in a car on a highway. He turned himself in last week and his lawyer disputes the charges.

The county is also investigating Good’s and Pretti’s killings and sued the Trump administration in March to gain access to evidence in those cases and the Sosa-Celis shooting.

Firefighters worked to free riders stranded 30.4 metres in the air after a rollercoaster malfunctioned and their car became stuck at Pleasure Pier amusement park in Galveston, Texas. No injuries were immediately reported.

After a decade of Trumpism, it should come as no surprise that President Trump’s ethos (presenting scandal as strength, outrage as authenticity and public disgrace as evidence you’re a “fighter”) has trickled down into congressional campaigns of both parties.

In Maine, for example, controversial oysterman and veteran Graham Platner, a Democrat, appears poised to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins, after incumbent Gov. Janet Mills’ failure to launch led her to drop out of the Senate primary.

Under old “pre-Trump” rules, Platner’s campaign would have withered instantly after revelations that he once had a Totenkopf SS tattoo, previously identified himself as a communist, said Black people were poor tippers, and wrote that white people “actually are” as racist and stupid as Trump thinks they are.

Instead, after all this surfaced, Platner actually rose in the polls. Considering the circumstances, there are several reasonable explanations for this.

Maybe Maine Dems have concluded that moral purity tests are politically suicidal after years of watching heterodox figures like Joe Rogan and Elon Musk drift away from the party.

Maybe Platner’s rough-edged outsider persona simply feels more authentic than another interchangeable politician in a pantsuit droning on about “working families.”

Perhaps the difference is that, unlike Trump or Texas’ scandal-plagued Republican Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, Platner has at least attempted contrition.

Or maybe Maine Democrats have absorbed the same lesson Republicans adopted in 2016: Once voters stop treating scandal as disqualifying, policing your own side for off-the-field behavior starts to look like unilateral disarmament.

I mean, who could blame them for thinking you’ve got to fight fire with fire? America, after all, reelected Trump after 34 felony convictions.

At a certain point, continuing to insist that “character matters” starts sounding like advice Ward Cleaver might have offered Wally on “Leave It to Beaver.”

But Maine isn’t the only example of voters viewing scandalous behavior as a “keeping it real” feature, not a bug.

Another just took place in Texas, when the aforementioned Paxton crushed normie incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a Republican primary runoff, garnering nearly 64% of the vote.

Paxton, it’s worth noting, was previously indicted on felony securities fraud charges, impeached by the Texas House on allegations including bribery, accused by senior aides of abusing his office to help a donor and real-estate developer and accused by his wife (a Texas Republican politician) of infidelity, just to name a few of his greatest hits.

Yet, not only did the scandals not doom Paxton, they probably helped him. They signaled a willingness to fight, casting him as both a victim and an outsider. There may be no purer expression of trickle-down Trumpism than Paxton, which probably explains why Trump endorsed him.

At this point, you might be thinking that all is lost. But there are counterexamples that lend to optimism.

Paxton’s Democratic opponent in Texas, for example, offers a stark contrast, as well as an opportunity to test the level of our societal decline in November.

Texas Democrats could easily have nominated their own chaos agent in Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a progressive firebrand whose flair for viral combat suggests she understands the incentives of modern politics perfectly well.

Instead, they chose James Talarico — a young state legislator, former middle-school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian — who projects the kind of earnest optimism that lands somewhere between Barack Obama and Pete Buttigieg.

If a Democrat like Talarico can win in deep-red Texas — against a scandal-plagued candidate who shouldn’t get within 10 miles of the U.S. Capitol — it will perhaps provide a modicum of hope that red lines still exist, and that some voters still believe character is destiny.

But regardless of who wins that matchup, the fact that both Paxton in Texas and Platner in Maine emerged as their party’s respective Senate candidates (Platner won’t technically be the Democratic nominee until after the Maine primary in June) still suggests something profound has shifted in American politics.

Not long ago, the scandals attached to either man would have ended a campaign overnight.

Today, they function more like résumé enhancements. Because the defining lesson of the Trump era may be this: Nothing is disqualifying anymore.

If a failed nepo baby and middling reality-TV star can become president, survive endless scandals (think “Access Hollywood”), rack up felony convictions, be found liable for sexual abuse, sit by and watch a Capitol riot, and then return to power anyway, traditional ideas about character and electability are simply no longer relevant.

The question now is whether Trumpism has become America’s permanent political operating system — or whether the new rules apply only to Trump himself.

November will offer some hints.

Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”

Mason Edwards has first-round hype ahead of July’s 2026 MLB draft for a reason.

USC’s ace takes the mound like a boxer enters the ring, eager to land blow after blow. And as the Trojans (43-15) open the NCAA tournament in College Station, Texas, at 6 p.m. PDT Friday (ESPNU), the southpaw packs a serious punch. He carries a nation-leading 160 strikeouts and the second-best 1.43 ERA.

“They’re getting a competitor,” Edwards said of what people can expect when he pitches. “There have been a lot of situations where I’ve had to battle and fight adversity. So, I think you’ll see a good fight when I toe the rubber. I’m not going to shy away from any type of competition.”

If anything, the competition probably shies away from Edwards.

Named the Big Ten 2026 Pitcher of the Year after stacking a record 113 strikeouts in conference play, Edwards is integral to what has been USC’s best team since the early 2000s.

The junior enters Friday’s regional matchup against Texas State with a perfect 8-0 record through 15 starts and 88 1/3 total innings and has collected nine-plus strikeouts in all but two games during the 2026 season — earning a career-high 16 in a 9-2 home win over Iowa on April 10.

MLB.com ranks Edwards No. 36 in its latest draft prospect rankings. Despite being on his way to becoming a professional baseball player, Edwards remains focused on helping the Trojans pursue their first national title since 1998.

“It’s important to stay present,” Edwards said. “I still play at SC, so I’m still concerned with how USC’s doing and how our team is doing. At the end of the day, that’s what’s important right now. It’s a team sport, it’s not tennis or golf. Got to stay grounded with what’s important. Team winning; going to a regional, winning that; trying to take this team to Omaha. That’s the biggest thing.”

Edwards, 20, is having fun while focusing on the Trojans.

Describing himself as playful, “cool with everyone” and as an “all-around happy” person, Edwards is enjoying his third year at USC, particularly as a teammate everybody can rely on.

Underrecruited during his prep career at Palisades Charter High, Edwards was inconsistent during his first season with the Trojans. He had some promising outings but finished with a 7.88 ERA and 1-3 record through 37 2/3 frames.

Edwards improved as a sophomore, serving as a starter and reliever, finishing with a 3.86 ERA and 3-0 record over 32 2/3 innings. However, he dealt with minor arm injuries and still didn’t have a clear-cut role.

Today, though, Edwards is one of the best pitchers in the country. And his skipper couldn’t be prouder.

“His development’s been really good,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said of Edwards. “He’s gotten better. That’s the thing we’re proud of. He’s a guy that’s been in our program for three years. Mason was trying to figure out who he was gonna be. ‘Is he going to be a starter? Is he going to be a reliever? So, he was kind of that spot starter … When he was a youngster, sometimes his misses [were] really big, and they really weren’t competitive pitches. Now, every pitch is pretty competitive.”

Stankiewicz credited Trojans pitching coach Sean Allen for helping Edwards, known for his rising heater, improve his curveball and develop his breaking ball.

The four-year head coach also praised Edwards for being an increasingly confident leader.

“Guys like him,” Stankiewicz said. “Guys enjoy being around him. I enjoy his growth. I enjoy being around him. He’s fun. We can tease each other pretty well and have fun with it. [Edwards was] a typical young man his freshman year, doesn’t say much. And then by the junior, senior year, they just grow up.”

The ace said he appreciates Stankiewicz, noting the coach’s emphasis on making sure players leave the program as “good men.”

Edwards also shouted out Trojans director of player development Josh Goossen-Brown, for being in his corner for years.

“He’s been through it all,” Edwards said of Goossen-Brown. “Been working with him since high school — very early high school — and he works here now. So, very small world, that he was able to get a job here.”

It’s hard not to see how the stars have aligned for Edwards.

While he didn’t consider USC his dream school growing up, Edwards is achieving Trojans royalty status, with loved ones nearby to support his journey in the same threads as great Trojans he idolized such as Randy Johnson and Seth Etherton.

Already named his conference’s best pitcher, Edwards is a semifinalist for both National Pitcher of the Year and for the Golden Spikes Award — given to the best amateur baseball player in America — after becoming the first USC pitcher to surpass 140 strikeouts in a single season since Ian Kennedy in 2005.

Edwards said he has always believed in himself, especially after a particularly rocky freshman campaign when his future appeared far from clear.

“When you’re your own person, you kind of see more than something other people might see,” Edwards said. “But yeah, freshman year, I flashed stuff that I really held onto. It was definitely a roller coaster … but you just hold on to the good things. Really holding on to those positives and trying to take them into the following years has been a big part of why you see that development process.”

PLANO, Texas — As it turned out, it would never be enough.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn tried for more than a year to show President Trump and Texas Republicans that he and the president were on the same team.

Cornyn posted a photo of himself reading Trump’s “The Art of the Deal.” He proposed legislation to rename a stretch of interstate in Trump’s honor. Perhaps most glaringly, the Senate institutionalist who long supported the filibuster reversed his position in a failed effort to advance voting restrictions that are a priority for the president.

None of it worked. On Tuesday, Cornyn became the latest in a line of Republicans who lost their primaries after falling out of favor with a president with little tolerance for dissent and a seemingly insatiable appetite for retribution. The four-term senator lost by double digits to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed last week as “a true MAGA Warrior.”

Cornyn, on the other hand, “was VERY disloyal to me,” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump’s intervention in the Texas runoff came after weeks of successfully backing primary challengers in Indiana, Louisiana and Kentucky as revenge against incumbents who broke with his agenda.

Cornyn’s attempt to avoid the same fate made even some of his supporters wince.

“You look at the positions he took to please the president and the groveling and whatever,” said former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican and Trump critic who didn’t seek reelection during the president’s first midterm in 2018. “It was rather painful to watch.”

Trump took an uncommonly equanimous approach to Tuesday’s results the following morning.

“Congratulations to Ken Paxton on such a tremendous win, and to John Cornyn for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career,” he wrote on social media. “John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all.”

Cornyn started early with ad touting pro-Trump voting record

Cornyn’s loss wasn’t for a lack of political gymnastics and astronomical campaign spending.

His campaign began running an advertisement last summer — part of an astounding nearly-$100-million air war by the senator and allied groups — with Cornyn looking into the camera and saying, “I voted with President Trump 99% of the time.”

On Cornyn’s campaign homepage, Trump and Cornyn stand side-by-side with thumbs pointed upward in an image aimed at projecting solidarity. Deeper in the website, the category titled “The Trump-Cornyn Record” notes the senator’s role securing votes for Trump’s signature 2017 tax cut bill.

Cornyn has also been championing provisions in Trump’s signature tax-and-spending legislation to finance work on the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The senator had dismissed the project as “naive” during Trump’s 2016 campaign. But in January, he stood along a section of completed wall in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley touting the measure’s $11 billion for Texas contractors’ work at “the direction of the president of the United States, to whom I am very grateful.”

Cornyn’s 2023 dismissal of Trump’s return glares in background

Cornyn’s praise for his party’s leader and president were not unusual, but they clash with a statement Cornyn made in May 2023, when Trump was mounting his presidential comeback campaign.

“Trump’s time has passed him by,” he told reporters. “I don’t think President Trump understands that when you run in a general election, you have to appeal to voters beyond your base.”

Trump would go on to easily win the nomination and carry every battleground state in the general election.

Cornyn would hew closely to the president for the first 16 months of his second administration, hoping at the outside chance of his endorsement or to keeping him from weighing in at all.

But Trump did not forget the past slights.

“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” he wrote on social media while endorsing Paxton.

Smaller gestures, and one big one

Cornyn has playfully worked to promote Trump fandom, last year posting a picture on social media of himself thoughtfully peering into the pages of Trump’s 1987 memoir and business advice book, “The Art of the Deal.”

In a more obvious gesture, he proposed designating a section of a U.S. highway from the Texas Gulf Coast to Montana as “Interstate 47,” to honor a 47th president with a well-documented love of naming things after himself. In a news release about the proposal, filed just over two weeks before Tuesday’s runoff, Cornyn said it would be known as the “Trump Interstate.”

The more tectonic shift occurred in March, after Trump had teased a possible endorsement of either Cornyn or Paxton in the runoff.

Paxton swiftly said he would consider dropping his candidacy if the Republican-controlled Senate lifted the filibuster and passed the SAVE America Act, a series of voting restrictions that Trump has described as an essential part of his agenda.

The following week, Cornyn wrote an op-ed in the New York Post — Trump’s favorite hometown newspaper — backing away from his previous support of the filibuster. He vowed to “support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to get the bill “through the Senate and on the president’s desk for his signature.”

Flake watched with unease.

“I know John and his long-held positions on the filibuster and the Senate’s institutions,” he said. “No office is worth that.”

Beaumont and Bedayn write for the Associated Press. Bedayn reported from San Antonio. AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez expected sophomore Rylee Slimp to deliver under pressure.

Slimp earned first-team all-Big Ten honors as the leadoff hitter for a Bruins team that features slugging stars Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery. She leads a group of underclassmen who helped send UCLA to the Women’s College World Series.

“I have seen Rylee Slimp just play big from travel ball to big moments in high school, and she came here to play on this big stage,” Inouye-Perez said. “I think her biggest asset, besides the fact that she can hit a home run, is that she can hit to all areas of the field, and she has such a good eye.

“I think she wanted to be in this position this year. She wanted to be the leadoff and be an impact player.”

The Austin, Texas, native is hitting .428 with 16 home runs, 56 RBIs, and 94 runs. Slimp broke Natasha Watley’s UCLA single-season runs record of 75, set in 2001, with 94 runs so far this season.

The following interview with Slimp ahead of the Bruins’ WCWS opener against No. 1 seed Alabama on Thursday has been edited for length and clarity.

How do you feel about being recognized by national media, including ESPN, for your role in UCLA’s a lineup?

Slimp: It’s surreal. We’ve broken records and accomplished so much as an offense this year. I’m grateful to be the leadoff and for all of the publicity we’re receiving.

How did you get started playing softball?

Slimp: I played T-ball. My dad gave me lessons and stuff on hitting when I was four. My dad was the one who taught me everything from a young age and kind of grew with me through the sport, and as I got older.

What inspired you to continue to work at softball so that you can compete at UCLA?

Slimp: It was this dream I had when I was a little girl, just starting off playing. I always looked up to the girls playing in the College World Series, and I knew that was a dream of mine very early on.

What was your first contact with the UCLA coaching staff while you were in high school and how did that impact your decision to join the Bruins?

Slimp: Coach Lisa [Fernandez] saw me play at a tournament the summer of my sophomore year. It was right before Sept. 1st and all of that big recruiting stuff. So it happened pretty late in the process with UCLA for me. Coach Lisa saw me play a tournament, and then a few days later, I was out of camp and it kind of took off after that. … I canceled all the other [visits] that I had, and I was like, ‘Oh, I know that this is the place for me, like, I don’t want to be anywhere else.’

What has helped the younger players on this year’s team stay calm under pressure?

Slimp: We do have a new team. We have 10 returners and 10 new Bruins. So we are pretty young as a team. … I think the upperclassmen like Taylor [Tinsley] and Megan [Grant], the seniors, do a good job of sharing their wisdom and helping us grow.

What is something they have taught you?

Slimp: I think, honestly, that the game isn’t as deep as we make it. I think sometimes, as underclassmen, we can make it the end of the world if we go 0 for 3 in a game or we have a bad outing. … The game is meant to be fun, and you’re supposed to enjoy it.

What’s the story behind the Michael Jackson glove the team has been passing around the dugout and featuring on social media?

Slimp: We went and saw the [Michael Jackson] movie as a team. I think 12 of us went, something like that, and since then we’ve just been obsessed with all things Michael Jackson. … We got the gloves. We are doing the second base [celebrations.] We are all things Michael Jackson right now after that movie.

Who bought the glove?

Slimp: That’s a good question because I actually don’t know the answer. I think most of our props and stuff just pop up. I think the [stress ball in the shape of] butter started with [Tinsley] because she’s really into stress balls. … But the home run boxing gloves came from Coach Lisa [Fernandez] and her boxing analogy.

We have a team motto that we’re like boxers. … That’s been the vibe and motto of this team this year to symbolize that. … One of the girl’s sisters bedazzled them, so they are wearing bedazzled boxing gloves that we put around our necks, whoever hits a home run.

Being from Texas, do you have an opinion on what’s better — Whataburger or In-n-Out?

Slimp: I need to be careful how I answer this question because I need to know my audience here, but y’all take your In-N-Out very seriously. I do have to say, I do like In-N-Out more.

What about Texas tacos versus Los Angeles tacos?

Slimp: Oh, yeah, I can talk tacos. The tacos in Texas are definitely better because we have flour tortillas, and apparently, flour tortillas aren’t a thing in California.

What is your go-to taco?

Slimp: I love steak fajita with flour tortilla, of course, cheese, and guac. And honestly, that’s it. I’m pretty simple.

The catalog of unrequited hopes and hearts is a long one.

Captain Ahab went mad in his vengeful search for “Moby Dick.” Jay Gatsby’s ostentatious fortune failed to win the love of Daisy Buchanan. Charlie Brown never kicked the football.

Then there’s Texas, the land of broken Democratic dreams.

It’s been half a century since the party carried Texas in a presidential election. The last time Democrats won a statewide office, back in 1994, “The Lion King” was smashing box office records, Boyz II Men ruled the radio and the World Wide Web was about to change everything.

As Texas grew increasingly Republican, and politically beyond reach, Democrats insisted every election year was the one when they’d end their futility and take back power in either Washington or Austin, the state capital.

It never happened.

But is this, finally, the year?

With Ken Paxton stomping incumbent John Cornyn on Tuesday in a fierce and astronomically expensive U.S. Senate primary, many Democrats believe so — and even neutral observers agree they’ve been handed their best shot at resurrection in a good while.

“Paxton is going to be a much tougher guy [for Republicans] to haul over the finish line five months from now as opposed to Cornyn, who never lost an election until this one,” said Richard Murray, an emeritus political science professor at the University of Houston, who spent decades surveying Texas voters. “We’re looking at a very expensive, hard-fought race.”

Paxton, Texas’ three-term attorney general, is a singularly flawed candidate. Indicted, impeached, accused by his ex-wife of adultery, the GOP nominee is, to put it mildly, “an ethically challenged individual,” as the famously understated (and concerned) Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins put it.

But Paxton was the choice of President Trump — he, too, of impeachment, indictment and adulterous infamy — and that settled that.

Trump described Cornyn, a four-term senator and former justice of the Texas Supreme Court, as a “good man” but insufficiently supportive when “times were tough.” Among those occasions of abandonment, Cornyn voted to certify the incontrovertible result of the 2020 presidential election, thwarting Trump’s bid to illegally stay in office.

The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate is James Talarico, 37, a state representative from Austin and a Presbyterian seminarian and former public schoolteacher who’s built a nationwide following with his articulate and scriptural takedown of Republican foes. Imagine Beto O’Rourke with a clerical collar and capacity to mint money.

In 2018, O’Rourke came from seemingly nowhere and nearly upset Republican Ted Cruz in the closest Texas Senate race in decades. Before that it was the filibustering Wendy Davis who fired up Democratic imaginations nationwide. She commandeered the floor of the state Senate to briefly block antiabortion legislation — This is the year! — before falling well short in a 2014 bid for governor.

The key difference this time, with all due credit to Talarico and his prodigious fundraising, is his damaged-goods opponent. Normally, all it takes to win in Texas is a Republican ‘R’ beside a candidate’s name. But polling suggests a not-insignificant number of GOP voters could have a hard time supporting Paxton, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll back Talarico. They may simply not vote in the Senate race, which could be nearly as costly.

(The counterargument is that Paxton, a martyred hero to the MAGA movement, could boost turnout among the party base at a time Trump is leaking support within the establishment GOP.)

Either way, the president’s me-first political self-indulgence is not making things any easier for his fellow Republicans as they fight to hang on to control of the House and Senate in November.

In the 2022 midterm election, Trump boosted a batch of unappealing misfits — their sole attribute being their fealty to him — with poor results. Republicans lost eminently winnable Senate contests in Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and, with it, their chance at control of the chamber.

Even if Paxton prevails in November, Trump’s endorsement could prove quite costly to the GOP, and not just in the figurative sense.

Democrats need a gain of four seats to flip the Senate. To do so, they must successfully defend seats in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire and then pick up at least four others from a menu that includes Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio and, now, Texas.

It’s a considerable reach. But Democratic chances look a lot better than they did just a few months ago, before Trump mired the country in an Iranian quagmire and the price of gas and just about everything else began to sail through the ceiling.

Holding on to Cornyn’s seat will end up costing Republicans a kingly sum — money that “can’t be spent in two places at the same time,” as Matt Mackowiak, a longtime Texas GOP strategist and advisor to Cornyn’s campaign, noted. “It can go either to Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, Iowa, Alaska. Or it can go here to Texas, which is extremely expensive.”

Odds are against Talarico and Democrats winning the Senate race in November, because Texas remains, fundamentally, a Republican and conservative-leaning state. Paxton may win for that reason and that reason alone.

“This is as good an environment as Democrats are going to get realistically,” said Jim Henson, head of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas in Austin, who’s witnessed many highly touted Democrats fail in a blaze of unwarranted hype. “But when you start doing the math, it’s a little bit hard to see it all adding up.”

Which is not to say it can’t happen.

Truth, as the saying goes, can be stranger than “Moby Dick” or any other fiction.

PLANO, Texas — Texans are choosing a Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s runoff election, bringing to a close the extended, bitter and expensive primary where President Trump weighed in late to tip the race in another effort to rid the GOP of leaders less devoted to him.

Trump’s endorsement of state Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton over four-term Sen. John Cornyn gives the challenger a late boost and puts Cornyn at risk of becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history to seek the party’s nod and lose.

That’s despite Cornyn’s campaign and allied groups spending roughly $90 million in advertising since last year, the vast majority of it attacking Paxton.

It’s the latest GOP contest where Trump has sought to punish a Republican he sees as insufficiently loyal. This month, he has successfully backed challengers to incumbents in Louisiana, Kentucky and Indiana, a sign of his enduring influence among primary voters.

Paxton’s campaign and a pro-Paxton super PAC began airing ads promoting the endorsement within 24 hours of Trump’s announcement. Cornyn acknowledged Trump’s move would have an impact but said he wasn’t giving up.

“I know who gets to choose our senators, and it’s the people of Texas,” he said hours after the endorsement.

The winner will run in November against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Tuesday’s runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party hopes to flip.

The primary has been long, bitter and costly

Cornyn led Paxton in the March primary but failed to win a majority in the three-way contest that also included U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who finished in a distant third.

That was after Cornyn’s campaign and allied groups waged a monthslong ad campaign, mostly attacking Paxton for ethical and personal questions. The two-term attorney general was acquitted in a 2023 impeachment trial when allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Last year, Paxton’s wife filed for divorce, citing “biblical grounds.”

The alliance of pro-Cornyn groups have continued its attack, outspending Paxton’s campaign and two allied super PACs $16.5 million to $5.9 million since March 3, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Trump promised to endorse immediately after the primary, asking the unchosen candidate to withdraw. But he didn’t act until after early voting began on May 18.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him. “Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness.”

Pro-Cornyn groups lately have been airing ads criticizing the attorney general office’s handling of a Waco sex abuse case. Pro-Paxton groups had seized on Cornyn’s awkward relationship with Trump.

Trump snubs Cornyn amid retribution campaign

The negative tenor could diminish turnout in an election already complicated by coming a day after Memorial Day, Texas Republican strategist Tyler Norris said. About 2 million of Texas’ 18.7 million voters participated in the GOP primary.

The dynamic could favor Paxton, whose support draws from more of the most loyal Trump base in Texas, said Norris, who isn’t affiliated with either campaign.

“The defining battle lines are based around hyper-negative messaging, which dampens turnout to begin with,” he said. “So who is going to show up is the hardest of the hard core.”

Trump in his endorsement also poked at Cornyn, as he has done with other Republicans who are not in lockstep with the president.

He blasted Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy as “a Disloyal Disaster” on May 16, before Cassidy lost a GOP primary for the office he has held since 2015. The two-term senator had voted to convict Trump after his 2021 impeachment trial over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump backed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who advanced to a runoff with John Fleming, the state treasurer. Cassidy finished well behind them.

Last week, Trump celebrated as Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a critic of the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, lost his primary to Ed Gallrein. Trump called Massie “the worst congressman in the history of our country.”

In endorsing Paxton, Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”

Cornyn suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his “time has passed him by.” He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.

Senate GOP leaders backed Cornyn, saying he would be stronger in the general election. Some GOP strategists have argued a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority.

Democrats also will choose U.S. House nominees

Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee and veteran Rep. Al Green are vying for the party nod in Texas’ 18th District, which the Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew last year to help the GOP. The new map led to a contest between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area. Menefee was elected in a special runoff in January to the seat that had been held by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in March 2025.

Menefee finished narrowly ahead of Green in the March 3 primary but didn’t win a majority to avoid the runoff.

Former Rep. Colin Allred and U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are competing in the Dallas-area 33rd District. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead is looking to return to the House.

Near San Antonio, Democratic leaders are trying to prevent Maureen Galindo, who has expressed antisemitic views, from winning the party’s runoff with Johnny Garcia. While Texas lawmakers redrew the 35th District to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and don’t want Galindo’s past comments to impede them.

Beaumont and Bedayn write for the Associated Press. Bedayn reported from Austin.

May 26 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s endorsements loom large over Tuesday’s primary election runoffs in Texas with longtime Sen. John Cornyn facing Trump-pick Ken Paxton.

Cornyn, the Republican who has held a Texas Senate seat since 2002, edged Paxton by a percentage point in the March 3 primary. Neither candidate reached 50% of the vote, necessitating Tuesday’s runoff.

Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, frequently challenged Biden administration policies and was given Trump’s endorsement about one week before the primary election. Trump has called Paxton a “True MAGA warrior.”

The president has also been critical of Cornyn for being on the fence about Trump during his 2016 campaign and saying Trump’s “time has passed him by” in 2024.

The winner of the primary will be set to face Rep. James Talarico, D-Texas, in November.

“It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about,” Cornyn said.

As Paxton runs for Cornyn’s Senate seat, the role of attorney general is up for grabs between Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and state Sen. Mayes Middleton. Paxton has held the office of the attorney general since 2014.

Trump has not weighed in on the race between Roy and Middleton. Roy has often backed Trump policies but has broken from the president in key moments, including after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Roy alleged that Trump had committed “clearly impeachable conduct.” He did not vote to impeach Trump for a second time though.

Longtime Democratic Rep. Al Green is being challenged in a runoff election by 38-year-old Christian Menefee on Tuesday. Green, 78, has represented the Houston-area 9th Congressional District since 2005.

Cryptocurrency has become a key issue in the race between Green and Menefee. An industry-aligned super PAC has spent about $5 million in support of Menefee.