About John

John Cornyn III was born February 2, 1952, in Houston. He earned a B.A. in journalism from Trinity University (1973), a J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law (1977), and an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law (1995).

Before the Senate, he was a judge on the Texas 37th District Court in San Antonio (1985–1991), an associate justice on the Texas Supreme Court (1991–1997), and Attorney General of Texas (1999–2002). He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and has been reelected four times; he is the senior senator from Texas and his current term runs through January 2027. He served as Senate Minority Whip (2013–2015), Senate Majority Whip (2015–2019), and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (2009–2013). In November 2024 he ran for Senate Republican Leader and lost to John Thune on the second ballot. He sits on the Finance, Judiciary, Foreign Relations, and Intelligence committees and has been the primary sponsor of 118 enacted bills.

Cornyn is running for reelection in 2026. He did not win a majority in the March 2026 Republican primary and faces a runoff with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on May 26, 2026.

Sources: GovTrack, Wikipedia – John Cornyn, Congress.gov.