AUSTIN, Texas – Seven months and $60 million later, Senate Republicans’ efforts to rescue one of their caucus’ leading members have proven totally ineffective, driving worries the party could lose a statewide election in Texas for the first time in three decades and give Democrats another pathway to claiming a Senate majority.
Despite getting massively outspent in the final weeks before the March 3 primary, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the GOP race to replace longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a contest that’s likely to go to a runoff next month. An underwhelming performance by Cornyn might seal his fate before that even happens, so he’s stepping up his attacks against Paxton this week, predicting an electoral bloodbath for the GOP should the ethically challenged, far-right Paxton become the nominee.
“We will have an Election Day massacre,” Cornyn warned at an early voting kickoff event on Tuesday. “Republicans up and down the ticket will pay the price of having an albatross like our corrupt attorney general hung around their neck. If Ken Paxton is at the top of the ticket, we risk losing the Senate seat, losing the majority in the House of Representatives, and it will take a toll on everybody on the ballot.”
