In the Texas GOP Senate primary, Paxton and Cornyn trade early attacks

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A supercharged U.S. Senate GOP primary in Texas between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton is kicking off with personal attacks and expectations of a high-spending race in a year when Senate Republicans will be defending key seats and targeting others in 2026.

“We’re going to end up spending hundreds of millions of dollars potentially on this race in Texas because we can’t lose the seat in Texas, and that is money that can’t be used in places like Michigan, New Hampshire and Georgia,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday.

He went on to call Paxton a “conman and a fraud” in remarks that set the stage for a bitter campaign in the months ahead. The feud is not new: Cornyn, who lost a bid for Senate majority leader last year, is among the few prominent Republicans who has criticized Paxton over legal troubles that once threatened the career of Texas’ top law enforcement official.

Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump who was first elected to the Texas statehouse in 2002, is starting his campaign by framing himself an outsider and telling voters on his website that he will take on “career politicians” in Washington. Among Paxton’s recurring criticisms of Cornyn — who has served in Congress since 2002 — was the senator’s support of a bipartisan gun control bill after the 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which a teenage gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.

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Looming over the race is if Trump will make an endorsement. Paxton said Wednesday he doesn’t expect the president to weigh in until closer to election day.

“I would certainly love to have President Trump’s endorsement. I think I would be the death knell to John Cornyn,” he said in an interview on The Mark Davis Show.

Paxton has built a loyal following within the Texas GOP’s hard right that supported him during a historic Republican-led impeachment in 2023 over accusations of corruption and bribery. Trump at the time slammed the proceedings and Paxton was later acquitted in the Texas Senate.

Statewide campaigns in Texas are already among the most expensive in the country. Last year, Republicans spent $87 million helping defend Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in his race against Democrat Colin Allred, including $75 million from a super PAC supporting Cruz, according to Federal Elections Commission filings.

Allred, who lost by more than 8 percentage points, has not ruled out another Senate run after Democrats spent more than $130 million last year trying to elect him. Among Cornyn allies, there is concern that Paxton would be vulnerable and require millions more dollars in advertising that GOP donors otherwise could apply to those other races, instead of to defend a seat in a Republican-leaning state like Texas.

Nationally, Republicans see an opportunity next year to expand their 53-47 majority in the Senate. They see pickup opportunities in three swing states where Democrats have announced retirements: New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters and Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith. The GOP is also optimistic about the party’s chances in Georgia, where Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff is up for reelection.

No Democrat has yet entered the Senate race in Texas.

Paxton’s entry into the race underscores his political resiliency after being shadowed by his impeachment, an FBI corruption investigation and securities fraud charges in recent years. He reached a deal to end the securities fraud case last year and the Biden administration declined to prosecute Paxton.

During Paxton’s last campaign run for attorney general in 2022, George P. Bush, the son of former presidential candidate Jeb Bush, also drew attention to Paxton’s legal troubles. Paxton wound up defeating Bush by nearly 40 points in a runoff.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.