Sen. John Cornyn refuses to close ranks behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, lobbing attacks after losing to him in the Republican Senate primary — and Texas Republicans are furious.
Mr. Paxton’s tepid poll numbers are worrying state Republicans, and Republican insiders warn that Mr. Cornyn’s game is not helping and could cost the GOP not just the Senate seat but also a cascade of downballot races in the Lone Star State.
One Texas Republican lawmaker said Mr. Cornyn, 74, should get over the primary loss to Mr. Paxton, 63, who beat him in a runoff after winning a last-minute endorsement from President Trump.
The lawmaker said Mr. Cornyn should not exit a 24-year Senate career as a “bitter old man.”
“It would be best if he could get behind Paxton and just find something about him to talk positively about,” the lawmaker told The Washington Times. “But if you’re not going to do that, then step back. … You’ve already spent hundreds of millions of dollars to criticize him publicly. Stop.”
Mr. Cornyn is not staying quiet about his disdain for his Republican opponent.
He knocked Mr. Paxton as a “lazy” and “poor campaigner” in an interview published Friday by The Texas Tribune that detailed his reasons for not wanting to help Mr. Paxton defeat Democrat James Talarico.
Mr. Cornyn said Mr. Paxton was leading a lackadaisical campaign that “doesn’t raise money.”
“He basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be,” Mr. Cornyn said.
Mr. Paxton, he said, has not done “diddly squat” to persuade Mr. Cornyn’s supporters to back his race against Mr. Talarico.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks …
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Mr. Paxton’s aides say their outreach to Mr. Cornyn has been met with silence.
Mr. Cornyn’s criticisms follow months of bitter battling between the two men for the Senate seat Mr. Cornyn has occupied for four terms.
Mr. Cornyn warned voters during his primary campaign that Mr. Paxton would be the easier candidate to beat in the general election. Mr. Cornyn lost the nomination, and polls show Mr. Talarico slightly ahead of Mr. Paxton.
The latest poll, released Thursday by the self-described nonpartisan Texas Public Opinion Research, showed Mr. Talarico opening a 6-percentage-point lead over Mr. Paxton in a survey of 1,000 likely voters.
It found Mr. Paxton leading with White voters and voters older than 55. Mr. Talarico came out ahead with Black voters, Hispanic voters, younger voters, college-educated voters and women.
Polls also show Mr. Paxton underperforming in districts Mr. Trump won in 2024 by double digits.
Mr. Talarico holds an enormous fundraising lead. He has brought in $72 million so far, compared with the Paxton campaign’s $16.8 million.
Mr. Paxton said on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing” that he is unlikely to lose in deep-red Texas if Republicans turn out to vote.
“I don’t trust these polls,” he said. “We have our own polling that suggests maybe a little different result, but we definitely have a close race.”
Mr. Paxton said his own fundraising “has been tremendously good” in the past two weeks and he would launch some campaign ads.
Mr. Talarico, he said, is raising millions of dollars from liberals outside Texas.
As for Mr. Cornyn’s insults, Mr. Paxton said his former Republican opponent “doesn’t know my schedule” and added that the charge that he is not working to raise money “is completely fabricated.”
He said he is reaching out to Mr. Cornyn’s donors.
“The reality is we are attracting Cornyn supporters because I think they realize if we lose this race, we are going to lose the U.S. Senate and we are going to lose Texas,” Mr. Paxton said.
Mr. Paxton has served as Texas attorney general for more than a decade. Along the way, he has been impeached by the Texas House, indicted on two first-degree felony counts of securities fraud and one third-degree felony count of failing to register as an investment adviser — charges that were subsequently dismissed in 2025 after a pretrial diversion agreement — and accused of marital infidelity that led his wife of 38 years to file for divorce.
He also has been accused of firing four top deputies who reported allegations of corruption to the FBI. The firings resulted in litigation and a subsequent $6.6 million judgment against the state, which taxpayers must pay.
During the primary battle and runoff, Mr. Cornyn and his allies spent millions of dollars plastering the airwaves with negative advertising spotlighting Mr. Paxton’s scandals. Mr. Paxton aired his own advertising, framing Mr. Cornyn as a lawmaker who has done little for Texas during his four Senate terms.
Republicans hope Mr. Cornyn will come around and help Mr. Paxton and downballot candidates.
“John Cornyn is a good man who is establishment and out of touch with the GOP base. Ken Paxton is indisputably of questionable character on multiple fronts yet has a track record of being a conservative fighter,” a Texas Republican insider said.
“Cornyn knew Paxton would risk the seat and has no respect for him. Paxton likely still pulls it off because it’s Texas — but it shouldn’t be close and nevertheless is,” the insider added.
Mr. Trump won Texas in each of the past three presidential elections.
Texas Republicans remain optimistic that Mr. Paxton will win, but they say the close Senate race is putting tremendous stress on downballot Republicans and making their races more expensive.
Republican activists in Texas say they are frustrated with Mr. Cornyn.
“The voters are getting backhanded by a candidate who loses and then fails to support the candidate who was the winner,” one activist said privately. “Nobody, nobody owns the office of senator of Texas. It’s the people’s office. It’s not Sen. Cornyn’s office.”
Another Texas GOP activist said Mr. Cornyn could have left the Senate as a “gracious loser” and elevated himself within the party.
“It would have let him leave as more of a statesman or just a good loser. But he’s been such a lousy loser,” the activist said.
