Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas defeats tea party challenger

HOUSTON - Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas fended off a tea party challenge in Tuesday’s primary, easily outdistancing U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman and other GOP candidates to capture his party’s nomination.

The Associated Press declared Cornyn the winner as early votes showed the incumbent winning more than 6 in 10 votes.

Stockman, a Houston-area congressman, drew national attention for walking out on President Obama’s last State of the Union address and calling for his impeachment. He waged an anti-establishment campaign against the Senate’s second-ranking Republican leader that was peppered with incendiary speeches and gags, but at times alienated tea party activists who complained he was not campaigning hard enough.

Experts considered the race something of a bellwether of Republican incumbents’ ability to withstand tea party challenges at a time when a dozen GOP senators running for reelection are facing conservative opponents.

“If Cornyn comes out below 60%, then the sense is that he looks relatively weak,” Jim Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said before the vote.

“It’s a protest vote,” said Stuart Rothenberg, who analyzes races for his nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, adding that if Stockman “were to get 20% or 25%, it would tell you there’s a chunk of the Republican Party who will vote for anybody who challenges the Republican establishment.”

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf