President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for Senate, dealing a massive political blow to longtime Sen. John Cornyn as he faces off against Paxton in an upcoming Republican primary runoff.
“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
Of the incumbent, meanwhile, Trump wrote, “John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough.”
Cornyn and Paxton advanced to a May 26 runoff after neither candidate won a majority of the vote in the March 3 primary, with the four-term senator narrowly ahead of Paxton, 42%-41%. The nominee will take on Democrat James Talarico in the fall.
Trump’s endorsement is the most powerful one there is in a GOP primary, and the president’s decision to back Paxton could put an end to Cornyn’s long political career, marked by more than two decades in the Senate following stints as state attorney general, state Supreme Court justice and a district court judge.
Last weekend, another Republican senator, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, lost his primary after Trump endorsed an opponent, Rep. Julia Letlow, who advanced to a GOP runoff.
A late play
Paxton posted on social media that he is “incredibly honored” to have Trump’s support. “I look forward to championing his America First agenda in the Senate!” he wrote. “Texas, get out and VOTE!
Trump’s backing of Paxton, after early voting in the runoff began Monday, comes after weeks of speculation about whether the president would weigh in on the race. He had seemed ready to back Cornyn after the March primary, but he later tied his endorsement to passage of the SAVE America Act, a proposal overhauling the nation’s voting laws.
Paxton said he would consider dropping out of the race if Senate leadership agreed to nix the 60-vote threshold to end debate on legislation, known as the filibuster, in order to pass the measure.
Cornyn responded in a statement on X noting that he has supported Trump’s agenda and that the president “has consistently called me a friend in this race.”
“It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about.”
Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally who worked in his first administration and has backed Paxton, said that the Paxton campaign sent Trump polling showing him ahead in the primary. In addition, Bannon said Trump allies made sure that past negative comments Cornyn had made about Trump over the years were top of mind.
A person close to Trump also pointed to Paxton’s trajectory in recent polling as a factor in the president’s endorsement, as well as recent successes for his endorsees in other primaries.
“He has had some big recent wins, I think he both likes the attention and is feeling a moment,” the person said.
Bannon also noted how the endorsement came despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune and numerous other senators urging the president to back Cornyn.
“This is as much a vote of no confidence in John Thune as it is a vote of confidence in Ken Paxton,” Bannon said.
GOP senators worry about a competitive race
Cornyn and allies made the case that he represented the party’s best chance at holding onto the Senate seat and avoiding any drag on the rest of the Republican ticket in Texas, given Paxton’s personal and professional controversies.
Paxton was impeached on bribery and corruption charges in 2023, though the state Senate acquitted him. Meanwhile, Paxton’s wife announced last year that she was divorcing Paxton on “biblical grounds.”
“I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered, and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years,” Cornyn said on March 3 after the runoff matchup became clear. “There is simply too much at stake in this midterm election for our state and for our country. The final two years of President Trump’s agenda hangs in the balance.”
After Trump’s endorsement Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he worries the Texas Senate race will be “three times more expensive” for Republicans trying to defeat Talarico if Paxton is the nominee.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the pathway for Paxton is there, but it’s more uphill,” Graham told reporters.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is running in her own battleground race this year, said of Paxton, “I don’t understand it. He is an ethically challenged individual. John Cornyn is an outstanding senator and deserved, in my judgment, the president’s support. Obviously, it’s the president’s call, but I’m disappointed that he did it.”
Not everyone shares that view though. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who finished third in the initial Republican Senate primary in March, also endorsed Paxton on Tuesday soon after Trump made his pick.
And despite concerns about Paxton from senators and others inside the Republican Party, Trump told NBC News in mid-March, as he weighed his endorsement, that he viewed both Cornyn and Paxton as candidates who could win in November. Trump called Talarico “so weak.”
Paxton, meanwhile, pitched himself as Trump’s truest ally in the race, and his supporters were quick to liken the embattled state attorney general to the president, who also faced two impeachments.
Paxton has criticized Cornyn’s work on a bipartisan gun bill after multiple mass shootings, including one at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, as well as Cornyn’s past criticisms of the president. In 2023, Cornyn said Trump’s “time has passed him by,” suggesting Trump wasn’t the most electable presidential candidate in 2024. He did eventually endorse Trump. Cornyn also said that the criminal charges alleging that Trump mishandled classified documents were “very serious.”
Paxton has also repeatedly touted his unwavering support for Trump.
“I want to tell you, the last time I felt this kind of energy in one room, I was actually at Mar-a-Lago when President Trump announced he was running again in 2024. I don’t know if you remember, but it was right after the midterms, and everyone was turning on the president, the establishment, the media and most Republican elected officials in America were lining up against him. Not me,” Paxton told his supporters on primary night.
Paxton later added that it was time to send Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Trump “some reinforcements” in Washington.
“And I’m running to do just that,” Paxton said.
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