President Donald Trump has endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican runoff election to represent Texas in the Senate ahead of next week’s Republican primary.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said Paxton was “very loyal to me and our amazing MAGA movement,” but also said his opponent, incumbent John Cornyn, had not supported him during “tough times.”
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Cornyn pushed back on Trump’s claims that he had not supported the Texas senator for years.
“I worked closely with President Trump throughout both of his terms and voted with him more than 99% of the time. During this campaign, President Trump consistently called me a friend,” Cornyn said in a post on X.
Mr Paxton welcomed the support.
“I am extremely honored to receive President Trump’s full and complete support,” Paxton said in a post on X.
President Trump said in March that candidates who fail to win support should “drop out of the race.”
To clinch a party’s nomination in Texas, a candidate must win a clear majority. Neither candidate met that standard in the state’s primary elections in early March.
Texas also has open primaries, and voters do not need to be members of a particular party to vote in that party’s primaries. However, voters must commit to voting only in one party’s primary.
Paxton has long been the frontrunner for the state’s Republican nomination, but faces a close race in the general election. Mr. Paxton, 63, has never lost an election, even though his political career has faced turmoil, including indictments on felony charges of extramarital affairs and securities fraud. Paxton was also impeached by members of his own party.
Recent polls show the Republican runoff election to be a close race. In early May, polls in Texas, a state dominated by conservatives, a super PAC allied with Sen. Cornyn (74), showed the incumbent with a one-point lead. Meanwhile, a poll from Lone Star Liberty PAC, backed by the pro-Paxton super PAC, showed the attorney general with an 11-point lead.
Independent polls, including those from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, show Paxton with a three-point lead.
Texas Republicans have expressed concern about how Paxton will fare in the general election. Texas Congressman Matt Shaheen said, “Ken Paxton will be a disaster for conservatives in Texas!” In the post of X.
Trouble with the Senate
Republican candidates will face a tough general election. Polls suggest James Talarico is the favorite or within the margin of error. According to a new poll released by the Barbara Jordan Center for Public Policy Research, Talarico is expected to tie with Paxton in the general election, with Cornyn leading by one point.
Other polls are more grim. The University of Texas poll has Talarico leading Cornyn by seven points and Paxton by eight points, but the Texas poll has Talarico leading Paxton by five points and Cornyn by three points.
Democrats have long argued that Texas could swing Democratic in many statewide races. But despite these claims, a Democrat has not held statewide office in the Lone Star State since 1994.
Strategists believe the endorsement will also have a negative impact on Trump’s relationship with the current Senate.
“Paxton likely would have won without Trump’s support,” Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas, told Al Jazeera. “Right now, Trump is alienating the Republican majority in the Senate, particularly Sen. Thune, who has been lobbying Trump tirelessly to support Cornyn.”
“He also bought himself John Cornyn, who, if he loses on May 26, will have little reason to support the Trump administration for the final seven months of his term.”
Other Republicans questioned Paxton’s support, with Susan Collins of Maine calling him “ethically questionable.”
Republicans currently hold a majority in the U.S. Senate, holding 53 seats. Democrats hold 45 seats, and two independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, are caucusing with Democrats.
