President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his primary challenge to Sen. John Cornyn, dealing a massive blow to the incumbent with major implications in the fight for the Senate majority.
Cornyn has spent over a year courting Trump’s support, while Paxton has run to Cornyn’s right and pitched himself as a stronger ally of the president. Cornyn and Senate GOP leaders argued that he is a stronger general-election candidate as Democrats look to win statewide office in Texas for the first time since 1994.
The runoff is a week away, and early voting began Monday.
“I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump’s intervention in the runoff comes at a high-profile moment for his dominance within the GOP. Earlier this month, he helped unseat a group of Indiana state lawmakers who resisted his push for mid-decade redistricting. On Saturday, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his primary, five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment. And on Tuesday, Trump is working to defeat one of his biggest GOP critics in Congress — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — in his primary.
