Houston (AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed scandal-plagued Texas attorney general Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in a high-stakes Senate primary runoff, siding with a loyalist over the establishment conservative backed by Republican leaders. The endorsement, delivered a week before the May 26 vote, was a blow to Cornyn, a four-term incumbent whom national Republicans have spent tens of millions of dollars defending as the stronger candidate for November’s midterm election.
Paxton has survived years of controversy, including a securities fraud indictment that was eventually dismissed, a 2023 impeachment by the Republican-led Texas House, and a messy divorce from state senator Angela Paxton, who accused him of adultery. That baggage has made some Republicans nervous that Paxton could turn what should be a safe seat in deeply conservative Texas into a real opportunity for Democrats, who are hopeful of flipping the Senate. Trump dismissed those concerns, praising Paxton on Truth Social as “a true MAGA Warrior” who had “ALWAYS delivered for Texas” and saying he had been treated unfairly but “knows how to WIN.” By contrast, Trump called Cornyn “a good man” but faulted him for being “very late” to support his 2024 comeback campaign.
Cornyn, 74, has served in the Senate since 2003 and has leaned heavily on support from the chamber’s Republican leaders, who argue that he offers predictability in November. Paxton has cast him as a creature of Washington and emphasized his own loyalty to Trump’s agenda. “I am incredibly honored to have President Trump’s COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT,” Paxton posted on social media. “No one has ever fought harder for the American people than President Trump, and I look forward to championing his America First agenda in the Senate!”
– Loyalty vs electability –
Polling suggests the runoff remains tight. A University of Houston survey conducted from April 28 to May 1 put Paxton ahead of Cornyn 48 percent to 45 percent among likely Republican runoff voters, within the margin of error. The winner will face Democrat James Talarico, a state lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian who has raised large sums and argued that both Republicans represent a corrupt political system tilted toward wealthy donors.
Cornyn noted that he had voted for Trump’s agenda “more than 99 percent of the time” and said it was now for Texas Republicans to decide between a strong candidate capable of defeating Talarico and a “weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about.” A Texas Southern University poll released Monday found the general election essentially tied regardless of the Republican nominee: Cornyn led Talarico 45-44, while Paxton and Talarico were even at 45 percent each.
Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide since 1994, and Trump carried the state by nearly 14 points in 2024. But his late intervention underscored the central tension in the Republican Party: whether loyalty to Trump now matters more than electability in November. “As I said on primary night, it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff,” Talarico said in a statement. “We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system.”
© 2024 AFP
