Paxton vs. Cornyn?

DALLAS – Fox News reports that speaking to Republican Party members in Denton County Monday night, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, listed several Republicans he plans to purge from the Texas GOP for being insufficiently conservative. Among those on Paxton’s list was Texas’ senior U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, one of the most powerful members of the Senate GOP. The crowd erupted into loud applause as Paxton said, “The second thing we need to do, and I might play a role in this, is replace John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.” The attorney general, who worked with the Trump team to file a lawsuit in December that successfully secured a court order stopping the Biden administration from continuing sales of border wall materials, has long hinted at a potential run to replace Cornyn.

“I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,” Paxton said in a September 2023 interview on the Fox News Channel. And pointing to a possible Senate run in 2026, Paxton said, “Somebody needs to step up and run against this guy,” adding, “everything’s on the table for me.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Paxton gave more credence to the rumors, saying despite “loving what I’m doing … I’m looking potentially at the U.S. Senate.” He shared that he is in talks with groups in Texas about a possible 2026 Senate run and will likely decide in the “next couple of months.” Paxton claimed Cornyn does not represent the conservative values of Texans and accused him of not being an ally of Trump. He has also regularly labeled Cornyn a “RINO,” a “Republican in name only” and an insult MAGA and “America First” Republicans have regularly used to criticize more mainstream or establishment members of the GOP. Another source close to Paxton told Fox News Digital the attorney general “plans to spend the next few months meeting with voters, donors and grassroots activists across the state to gauge interest and decide how he can serve Texas best.”