John Thune

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., spoke with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday, opening communication with the man whose Republican primary campaign the party's Senate leadership had spent months and millions trying to defeat.

A person familiar with the call described it as productive — the first reported contact between Thune and Paxton since Paxton defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in Tuesday's runoff, according to Axios.

The election results appeared to ease tensions between the two sides.

Paxton won roughly 64% of the more than 1.38 million votes cast statewide, a margin Axios described as the widest primary defeat of a sitting U.S. senator since 1978.

Cornyn became the first Republican senator from Texas to be denied renomination.

President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton a week before Election Day, calling him a "true MAGA warrior."

Before Trump's late endorsement, Thune's political operation and the National Republican Senatorial Committee had invested heavily in supporting Cornyn's reelection bid.

The same operation must now support a nominee its donors previously spent heavily trying to defeat as he prepares to face Democrat James Talarico, a state representative Axios described as a strong fundraiser.

"Tonight we just sent a Texas-sized message to Washington," Paxton told supporters in Plano

The Wednesday call signals the next phase of the race, as Republicans prepare to support a candidate facing longstanding legal and ethical controversies in what had been viewed as a safe Republican seat.