Cornyn Faces MAGA Challenge from Paxton in High-Stakes Texas Race

Texas Attorney General and MAGA firebrand Ken Paxton is challenging long-time incumbent Senator John Cornyn to represent the GOP for U.S. Senate.

If the recent CPAC event held in Texas is a barometer of the view conservatives have on the contest, Cornyn won’t like the comments. “The grassroots is not for Cornyn at all, and so this is a great time to throw him out,” said one CPAC attendee. “MAGA has ascended, and we’re not backing down. We’re clearing them out here in Texas.”

Cornyn skipped the ultra-conservative conference. Paxton didn’t. “Has anyone seen John Cornyn here because I have not seen him,” Paxton asked the CPAC crowd last weekend on stage.

CBN News spoke with Paxton, who says he believes Cornyn’s days are numbered. “I am convinced if the voters know they can hear John Cornyn talk about how… and hear Joe Biden congratulating John Cornyn on being a great ally in restricting Second Amendment rights, that’s damaging. If I can show John Cornyn criticizing the border wall over and over and over, I can show John Cornyn’s votes for amnesty and pushing that agenda, and if I can show him criticizing Donald Trump and saying he is not our guy. His day has passed. The truth is John Cornyn’s Day has passed.”

Paxton, though, has challenges. The Cornyn campaign is expected to outspend him, and there are questions surrounding his controversial past. It includes a felony indictment, one that ended in a plea deal; being impeached over abuse of office allegations, although he still remained as attorney general; and an extramarital affair. 

Senator Cornyn tells CBN News he believes Paxton’s past is a warning. “I’m betting that character does matter. I think, first of all, I know that the people of the great state of Texas deserve somebody who they can trust. And I think Ken Paxton’s record demonstrates that you can’t trust him.” 

To that end, Cornyn, who has deep ties with traditional evangelical leaders in the state, formed a faith council, highlighting his values. 

“Senator Cornyn has managed to fulfill his calling to government service with remarkable integrity,” said author and pastor Max Lucado, who has endorsed Cornyn.

But while Cornyn is playing the values card, Paxton is playing the RINO card, saying it is he who is more in line with today’s populist MAGA GOP, and any attempt by his opponent to flex to the right is fake. So how does Cornyn respond to the criticism that he’s moving into MAGA positions that he might not otherwise?

“Look at my record, and I think it’s people maybe hadn’t been paying attention to what I’ve been doing. I tend to not necessarily want to draw attention to myself, but I’ve been supportive of the president voted with him 99.3% of the time… The name-calling doesn’t really affect me very much. I think the best I can do is to explain to them what my record is and why I’m, they should support me for this election.”

The support Cornyn really needs is from President Trump, who hasn’t endorsed either candidate so far. The runoff is pretty tight right now with one recent poll showing Cornyn losing to Paxton 42–39 percent. But that same poll shows that if President Trump endorsed Cornyn, the senator would lead 45–39 percent.

So does Cornyn believe he can still win if he doesn’t receive President Trump’s endorsement? “I think his endorsement would be decisive,” Cornyn tells CBN News.

Trump likes to pick winners, and with this race so close, he seems to be playing a waiting game despite the attorney general filing over 100 lawsuits to fight Biden administration policies. Has Paxton been frustrated that the president hasn’t endorsed him yet, since they are both very MAGA-aligned?

“Look, if I were making the decision, of course he’d endorse me,” Paxton tells CBN News. “Yeah, I think he should endorse me. Look, there’s a lot of pressure on him from these senators. There’s a lot of pressure on him from internal staff that are more Bush-Karl Rove aligned.”

The endorsement nod will ultimately come down to the one with the best chance of beating Democrat nominee James Talarico in the fall. Critics see Paxton as possibly too MAGA to win a general election. Paxton wholeheartedly disagrees.

“So let me just say this when I get through the primary, not if, I’m going to get through the primary and beat John Cornyn. Yeah, they’ve made that argument. I’ve won three statewide races and done it with very little money. I’m always outspent. And yet I perform as well as people that are spending four times the money or sometimes, you know, much more than that. Because I think the voters of Texas are smart. I mean, they don’t necessarily buy into all the negative advertisements being run by these people.”

Cornyn disagrees and thinks the president will as well. “He knows that I would be the best candidate to help the ticket going into November. I will win by a larger margin. Ken Paxton may in fact lose the seat, and at minimum he would not help down ballot where the president wants to carry the five new congressional seats that have been drawn in Texas so we can maintain the majority in the House.”

At this point in the key race, all eyes are on President Trump, the decider-in-chief.

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