In late April, a group of women with jangly earrings and effervescent energy sat in a beer garden in San Antonio with plastic cups of red wine in front of them. They introduced themselves as Carol, Mona, and Susan. “We call each other the Golden Girls, because we do so much together,” Susan said. The evening’s entertainment was a meet and greet with Republicans running for elected office. The women had already checked out Brandon Herrera, a congressional candidate, in more ways than one. (“This might be the one time I vote for somebody by the way he looks,” Mona said.) But the night’s main draw was the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, the far-right agitator who hopes to wrest a Senate seat away from the incumbent, John Cornyn. Earlier this spring, Cornyn eked out a win in the primary, but, because neither candidate earned a majority, the two men will compete in a runoff, on May 26th. On Tuesday, Trump endorsed Paxton, giving him a significant boost. But prolonged Republican infighting, combined with growing anti-Trump sentiment, has resulted in a Senate race that seems more competitive than anyone would have predicted a year ago. Texas Democrats, wary after years of predictions that a blue Texas is just around the corner, are allowing themselves to hope again, cautiously.