Trump supports Ken Paxton in Texas Senate primary runoffExBulletin

Former President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during an October 2022 rally in Robstown, Texas. Nick Wagner/AP .

switch captionNick Wagner/AP

Former President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during an October 2022 rally in Robstown, Texas.

Nick Wagner/AP

President Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas Republican Party’s runoff for U.S. Senate, a week before voting in the controversial and costly primary ended.

“Ken Paxton has been through a lot, in many cases very unfairly, but he is a fighter and he knows how to WIN.” Trump wrote in part on social media. “Our country needs fighters, but also loyalty to the cause of greatness.”

Trump’s last-minute decision to support Paxton is an effort to essentially end the race after weeks of bruising fighting in a state that Democrats view as a potential opportunity for a November takeover.

The Cornyn campaign continues

A day earlier, Cornyn said he didn’t expect Trump to intervene in the race.

“I think that ship has probably sailed,” Cornyn told reporters after casting his vote Monday at a polling place in far South Austin, the first full day of early voting in the state for the primary runoff.

At the time, Cornyn said he would like Trump to campaign on his behalf, but he believed the president didn’t want to alienate some voters by choosing sides.

“We’re not slowing down,” Cornyn said Monday amid a busy campaign schedule.

On Tuesday, Cornyn’s team said it was sticking to that plan, including a long list of stops in several major metropolitan areas in the coming days.

Ahead of the endorsement, Brandon Rottinghaus, a politics professor at the University of Houston, said Paxton’s slight lead in the polls and their ideological proximity would be key.

“Trump likes to support winners, so I think he waited for the race to come to fruition,” Rottinghaus said. “Paxton has been one of the president’s most aggressive legal and political defenders. So having the ability to have something like that in office has value for him as well.”

Analysis: Why the Cornyn-Paxton runoff could be a ‘nightmare scenario’ for Republicans | TPR

Cornyn, Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt were each vying for Trump’s support ahead of the March 3 primary election, but the president declined to choose any one of them, noting that he liked all three candidates.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks on the fourth day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images .

rock legend Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks on the fourth day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images

Paxton argued that Cornyn was out of touch with Trump’s MAGA base and Republican Party leadership. Cornyn’s campaign highlighted a series of scandals that plagued Paxton, including his wife filing for divorce on “biblical grounds,” a securities fraud indictment that was later settled, and an impeachment vote in 2023, where he was later acquitted.

The Texas race has become the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history, with both parties spending well over $100 million in total so far. That number will continue to climb as Democrats seek to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity to win several Republican seats in the Senate.

State Rep. James Talarico won the Democratic nomination over Rep. Jasmine Crockett and another challenger.

“As I said on primary night, it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff. We already know who we’re up against: billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system,” Talarico said Tuesday in response to Trump’s support for Paxton. “Our movement to take back Texas from working people rises above party politics – because the greatest fight in this country is not left versus right, but top versus bottom.”

Supporting Trump could pose risks for the Republican Party

Some voters and analysts have warned that Paxton’s polarizing past could cost Republicans dearly in the long run.

Toni Farrell, an independent voter from Meadow, Texas, a town outside Lubbock, is one of those voters.

She told NPR before Trump’s endorsement that she supported Cornyn because she wanted to see more moderate Republicans elected to office. She voted for Cornyn in the primary election and plans to do the same in the runoff.

“Ken Paxton – He’s not someone I believe in character. He’s not,” Farrell, 70, said. So Cornyn is my guy.

If Cornyn advances to the general election, Farrell said she plans to stick with him. But if Paxton wins, she said she would vote for Democratic candidate James Talarico.

“It’s a trough in Washington — you know, every state is running like cows to get their share of federal dollars,” Farrell said. “If we send Talarico, he’s the new cow and he’ll be at the back of the line, whereas Cornyn, he’s a senior cow. He’ll be at the front of the line.

“Paxton is also new to Washington. He has no connections. So if I choose between the two new cows, I choose the one with moral values.”

“[Paxton] has no moral values ​​in my mind.”

The day after the primary, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that the runoff “MUST STOP NOW” so Republicans can focus on the November fight against Talarico. He also wrote that the candidate who has not received his endorsement should “immediately drop out of the race.”

“My support within the Republican Party has been virtually insurmountable!” Trump wrote. “It’s such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I support WINS, and wins big, especially in Texas!”

In the March 3 primaries in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas, all but five of Trump’s endorsements either won outright or faced no challengers. Only one, embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales, did not finish first.

Over the weekend, Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming advanced to a runoff in the U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Trump is also involved in Tuesday’s primary in Kentucky, where Thomas Massie, a Republican incumbent who has clashed with the president, hopes to fend off Ed Gallrein.

NPR’s Lexie Schapitl contributed to this story.

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