Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hopes to unseat US Sen. John Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth term. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his campaign taking on US Sen. John Cornyn in what will be a personal, expensive fight in the Republican primary.
The upside is that Ken Paxton won’t seek a fourth term as Texas Attorney General.
The downside? He stands a solid chance of becoming a US senator.
Paxton made good on the worst kept secret in Texas politics, announcing Tuesday that he’s running against US Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary in March. That sets up a clash of GOP heavyweights, pitting the ethically-challenged, right-wing Paxton against Cornyn, an old school conservative who has sometimes struggled with a party that has been overtaken by MAGA diehards.
The announcement also means that Paxton, first elected Attorney General in 2014, won’t run for another term as the state’s top lawyer in 2026. He’s used the office as a platform to launch a legal assault against facts and science, elections, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ people, cannabis, and the Biden administration, which he sued 106 times.
The back-and-forth between Paxton and Cornyn on Tuesday hinted at the nasty, personal, and expensive fight that is now a political reality.
“It’s definitely time for a change in Texas,” Paxton said as he announced his campaign on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News. “We have another great US senator in Texas, Ted Cruz, and it’s time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas, and also support Trump.”
“That’s what I plan on doing,” he added.
Cornyn didn’t miss the moment. On Wednesday, he called Paxton “a con man and a fraud,” a reference to Paxton’s impeachment by the Texas House in 2023, a federal corruption investigation, and a whistleblower lawsuit from former aides he fired.
In a March 26 video announcing his own reelection campaign, Cornyn hit on issues that helped Republicans — including US Sen. Ted Cruz — in campaigns last year: inflation, crime, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
“I’m asking for your support so President Trump and I can pick up where we left off,” Cornyn said.
“The radical left thinks they can flip Texas blue, stop President Trump, and reverse the America first agenda. But Texans have a message for them: Come and take it,” Cornyn added.
Polling suggests that Cornyn is vulnerable. Just 22% of Republican voters said they would reelect Cornyn, according to a recent poll from Texas Public Opinion Research. Among GOP primary voters, Paxton leads Cornyn by 11 points, the poll found.
A January survey of voters from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston showed that 36% of Republican primary voters would consider voting for Paxton, compared to 32% for Cornyn.
The Texas Democratic Party responded to Paxton stepping into the race by reminding voters that Paxton — who paints himself as a Christian conservative — cheated on his wife with the help of a political supporter, a burner phone, and secret Uber account. Kendall Scudder, who was elevated to chair of the party on March 29, offered a blunt assessment of Cornyn’s chances in the primary: “Cornyn’s cooked.”
Democrats haven’t stepped into the US Senate race yet, though Colin Allred said he’ll make a decision on whether to run this summer. Allred, a former US House member from Dallas, ran against Cruz last year and hoped to become the first Democrat since 1994 to win a statewide race in Texas. Allred lost by more than 8 points.
