(The Center Square) – The gloves are off in the race for one of Texas’ U.S. Senate seats with Attorney General Ken Paxton announcing he’s challenging incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
Both Republicans have positioned President Donald Trump’s agenda at the center of their campaigns one year before the primary.
Cornyn is running for reelection to his fourth term after first being elected in 2002. He was easily reelected in 2008, 2014 and 2020. Born in Houston, he has a long history of public service. Cornyn was first elected in 1985 as a judge to the 37th Judicial District Court, where he presided for six years before he was elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1990. He served on the state’s highest court for seven years before he was elected as Texas’ 49th attorney general. He held that position for three years before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002.
In his first campaign video for his reelection bid, Cornyn is seen with Trump at a 2019 rally in El Paso where Trump thanked him and fellow U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. In the video, Cornyn says, “I’m running for re-election and asking for your support so President Trump and I can pick-up here we left off.”
Paxton, born in North Dakota, later moved to Texas, where he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2002 and served for 10 years. He was elected to the Texas Senate in 2012, where he served for one term. He was elected as the 51st attorney general of Texas, assuming office in 2015. Throughout his tenure as attorney general, Paxton was plagued by a range of lawsuits and allegations of securities fraud, bribery, abuse of office, extramarital affairs, among others. He was the first attorney general in Texas history to be impeached. In May 2023, 60 House Republicans joined nearly all Democrats to impeach him on 20 charges. Four months later, he was acquitted by the Texas Senate along party lines.
Paxton, who’s office sued the Biden administration more than 100 times, describes himself as “a conservative fighter who has always stood with President Trump and championed the America First agenda.”
His campaign slogan, “Unshakable. Unbroken. Unafraid” argues. “They tried to take him down. Now, he’s taking a sledgehammer to the Establishment.”
He says he’s running for U.S. Senate “to fight for President Trump’s agenda and take a sledgehammer to the D.C. establishment.” He also criticized Cornyn, saying he’s been in Washington, D.C., for over two decade, “and he has turned his back on President Trump and the America First agenda time after time,” among other criticisms.
Like former U.S. Sen. JD Vance, Cornyn and Cruz were past critics of Trump. Cruz ran against Trump for president in 2016 in a bitter primary race but is now one of Trump’s biggest supporters. Both Cornyn and Cruz voted against Democratic impeachments of Trump and voted for his legislative priorities. Vance, a past ardent critic of Trump, changed his views so much that Trump chose him as his vice president. As vice president, Vance is also now one of Trump’s biggest advocates and partners.
Not soon after Paxton’s announcement, Cornyn’s campaign said that during Trump’s first term, Cornyn “voted with President Trump more than 95% of current Senators, securing the votes for his biggest accomplishments as his Whip.”
He also called Paxton “a fraud,” citing examples, including that while Paxton argued his “impeachment trial was a sham … he didn’t contest the facts in legal filings which will cost the state millions. He says he’s anti-woke but he funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to lawyers who celebrate DEI. And Ken claims to be a man of faith but uses fake Uber accounts to meet his girlfriend and deceive his family.”
Both are vying for an endorsement from Trump.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD, and National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Tim Scott, R-SC, have urged Trump to endorse Cornyn, CNN reported.
“Obviously we’re supporting Sen. Cornyn,” Thune said. “He’s done a great job for Texas and for the country. And we need him back.”
The Senate Leadership Fund has also endorsed Cornyn, as it did Cruz. “The Senate Leadership Fund fully intends on seeing [Cornyn] reelected next November,” SLF chair Cory Gardner said, according to Axios.
