The day was dominated by the Texas GOP Senate runoff, where Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton defeated incumbent John Cornyn in a landslide, a result called immediately after polls closed. The race was framed as a loyalty test within the Republican Party, with Paxton's victory seen as a consolidation of Trump's hold on the GOP. Earlier, the US-Iran conflict continued to draw attention: US 'self-defense' strikes in southern Iran and Iranian retaliation threats complicated ceasefire talks, while Trump convened a rare Camp David cabinet meeting on Iran. Redistricting battles also featured, with South Carolina's Senate rejecting a Trump-backed map and a federal court blocking Alabama's GOP-favored map. Other stories included a chemical tank rupture in Washington state causing fatalities and Pope Leo's AI warnings being dismissed in Silicon Valley.