FORT WORTH, Texas \u2014 Sen. John Cornyn is spending the homestretch of his primary warning Texas Republicans that if he loses the contest to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, GOP candidates up and down the ballot in November will pay a steep price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf Ken Paxton is the nominee, we could well experience a massacre and the first Democrat elected since 1994 in the state of Texas,\u201d Cornyn told supporters at the Fort Worth Police Association on Wednesday afternoon, referring to statewide elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know people assume that Texas is a red state, will always be a red state, but when you nominate a flawed individual with the sort of political baggage that Ken Paxton has, you are risking all that,\u201d Cornyn said. \u201cYou\u2019re risking the United States Senate seat. You\u2019re risking President Trump\u2019s agenda to resume two years in office, and you are risking everybody else on the ballot below the Senate race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The potential impact on other Republicans on the ballot is a key part of Cornyn\u2019s closing message ahead of his March 3 primary against Paxton and GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt. With three high-profile candidates vying for the Republican Senate nomination, it\u2019s unlikely that anyone will win a majority of the vote, meaning the primary is expected to head to a runoff May 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He delivered the same message to a few dozen supporters Tuesday at Serranos Cocina y Cantina in Austin, saying Paxton\u2019s nomination would lead to \u201can Election Day massacre\u201d for the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRepublicans up and down the ticket will pay the price of having an albatross like our corrupt attorney general hung around their neck,\u201d Cornyn said, alluding to Paxton controversies, including his divorce and the allegations of bribery that led to his impeachment by the state House in 2023; the state Senate ultimately acquitted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paxton, meanwhile, has suggested he can energize core Trump supporters who have been less likely to turn out when Trump isn\u2019t on the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEnsuring that low-propensity America First voters are motivated to show up in November is critical to Republicans\u2019 success in 2026, and John Cornyn is the single worst person in Texas to accomplish that,\u201d Paxton said in a Feb. 9 statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paxton pointed to a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs poll that tested hypothetical general election matchups and found both Cornyn and Paxton slightly ahead of the Democrats but within the survey\u2019s margin of error. The poll also found Republican voters viewed Paxton more favorably than Cornyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paxton adviser Nick Maddux said in a statement that Texans view Paxton as \u201ca conservative warrior who will always fight for us and our freedoms, even in the face of the Left trying to tear him down. Texans also know that John Cornyn is just like every other career politician who talks tough during election season, but then does the exact opposite in D.C. and betrays Texas by repeatedly pushing gun control and amnesty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked about Paxton\u2019s case that he can turn out infrequent Trump voters, Cornyn said Tuesday that Paxton was \u201cliving in a fantasy\u201d and that he would be a \u201cdead weight\u201d for other Republican candidates. Cornyn said independents, Democrats and \u201cmany Republicans\u201d wouldn\u2019t vote for Paxton \u201cbecause of his blatant record of corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo I understand him trying to put the best spin on his argument, but it\u2019s simply not true,\u201d Cornyn continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cornyn was talking about voters like Mike Lopez, 60, a small-business owner who cast his primary ballot for Cornyn in Austin on Tuesday. Lopez, who identifies as an independent, said that he wouldn\u2019t support Paxton if he is the GOP nominee in November and that he\u2019d consider backing state Rep. James Talarico if he wins the Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just a crook,\u201d Lopez said of Paxton. \u201cThat\u2019s it. I mean, he\u2019s just a basic criminal that got his hands in the cookie jar and got caught. So that\u2019s not representative of being a Republican or being conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cornyn also noted that Trump is particularly invested in holding onto the House and winning the five House seats in Texas that Republicans in the Legislature redrew in the GOP\u2019s favor last year. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to take control of the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know they\u2019re important to President Trump, because he talks about it all the time,\u201d Cornyn said of the Texas congressional districts. \u201cHe does not want to lose the majority in the House of Representatives. First, because we want to continue to pass good, solid legislation and pass President Trump\u2019s agenda. But he doesn\u2019t want to get impeached for a third time, which is what will happen if the Democrats get control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That argument hasn\u2019t persuaded Trump to jump into the race so far. Trump has stayed neutral in the primary despite months of pressure from Cornyn and Senate GOP leaders to back Cornyn, who is in his fourth term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just haven\u2019t made a decision on that race yet. It\u2019s got a ways to go,\u201d Trump told reporters on Air Force One this week. He went on to say Cornyn is \u201ca good man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI like all three of them, actually, I like all three. Those are the toughest races. They\u2019ve all supported me. They\u2019re all good, and you\u2019re supposed to pick one. So we\u2019ll see what happens. But I support all three,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A source familiar with Trump\u2019s thinking about the race said he is unlikely to endorse a candidate in a primary runoff. The source said that Trump makes endorsement decisions based on a number of factors, including electability, his personal connection with the candidate, loyalty and a gut feeling, and that in this case, Trump\u2019s gut feeling is off and he is inclined to stay out of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also not clear yet whether Cornyn\u2019s case will be enough for a strong showing on March 3 or to win a May runoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not the first time in recent years that Cornyn has brought up electability ahead of a big election. He was one of the prominent Republicans who also raised questions about Trump\u2019s electability ahead of the 2024 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think President Trump\u2019s time has passed him by,\u201d Cornyn said in 2023. \u201cAnd I think what\u2019s the most important thing for me is that we have a candidate who can actually win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked Wednesday why he believes the case that Paxton isn\u2019t electable will resonate with GOP primary voters who supported Trump despite electability concerns, Cornyn told NBC News after the Fort Worth event: \u201cWell, that\u2019s the whole point about elections, is to get elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe point I\u2019m trying to make is this really, this isn\u2019t just about me,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is about Republicans up and down the ticket and President Trump\u2019s second-term agenda. I think it would not be good, and I\u2019m sure the president would agree, to lose a state and a Senate seat that he depends on as much as Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n