Trump Poised to Endorse Candidate in Texas GOP Senate Primary
In a move that has sent ripples through Texas politics, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will soon endorse a candidate in the Texas GOP Senate primary, hinting that he may request the other candidate to step aside.
Current Texas Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton have emerged from a contentious primary battle, advancing to a runoff after Cornyn secured a narrow lead following a protracted and heated campaign.
Trump’s forthcoming endorsement casts a long shadow over the upcoming runoff—an event that could extend an already costly and contentious primary fight for another 12 weeks, unless one candidate concedes.
In a social media post that read like a political rallying cry, Trump declared that the primary “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer.” He emphasized the necessity of focusing on their “easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent,” referring to Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who triumphed in the Democratic primary. “Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be PERFECT!” he insisted on Truth Social.
Both Paxton and Cornyn are actively courting Trump’s endorsement, with Paxton emphasizing his loyalty to the MAGA movement, while Cornyn, a seasoned four-term incumbent, is leveraging his connections within the party establishment, including support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Unfortunately, the GOP primary has devolved into a series of personal attacks, with the NRSC unleashing ads branding Paxton a “wife-cheater and fraud” in the weeks leading up to the primary election.
On the Democratic front, Talarico is quickly garnering support following his victory over Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Many Democrats perceive Cornyn as a stronger adversary compared to Paxton, whose troubled past presents an appealing target for their efforts to turn Texas blue.
Trump’s declaration came mere hours after Senate Majority Leader John Thune urged him to endorse Cornyn “early” in the impending runoff.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Cornyn holds a slim lead over Paxton, with just over one percentage point separating the two candidates according to estimates from The Associated Press, which reported that 97 percent of the votes had been counted.
