{"id":7861,"date":"2026-05-19T17:02:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7861"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:02:35","slug":"trump-endorses-paxton-in-texas-republican-primary-boosting-his-challenge-to-incumbent-sen-cornyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7861","title":{"rendered":"Trump endorses Paxton in Texas Republican primary, boosting his challenge to incumbent Sen. Cornyn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By THOMAS BEAUMONT, JESSE BEDAYN and KENDRIA LaFLEUR, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

ALLEN, Texas (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General\u00a0Ken Paxton, supercharging his effort to oust incumbent Sen.\u00a0John Cornyn\u00a0in a Republican primary runoff.<\/p>\n

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\u201cKen is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,\u201d Trump wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

When news of the endorsement broke, Paxton supporters began cheering and dancing to \u201cYMCA,\u201d a Trump campaign anthem, at an event in Allen, Texas, where the attorney general was scheduled to speak.<\/p>\n

Paxton and Cornyn qualified for the May 26 runoff after a March 3 primary, while Rep. Wesley Hunt finished third and did not advance.<\/p>\n

Although the four-term Cornyn has backed Trump\u2019s agenda in Washington, Paxton pitched himself as a political warrior for the Make America Great Again movement. Trump\u2019s endorsement puts him at odds with his party\u2019s establishment, which is convinced that Cornyn is the better candidate for November\u2019s general election. The Democrats nominated\u00a0Texas State Rep. James Talarico\u00a0as their candidate for Senate.<\/p>\n

In response to Trump\u2019s endorsement, Talarico said in a statement that \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter who wins this runoff. We already know who we\u2019re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornyn\u2019s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Monday, the senator said he believed that Trump had decided not to weigh in with an endorsement.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI think the president doesn\u2019t want to disappoint some of his own political base, and some of the Paxton people have been talking to him and encouraged him to support him, I think that was a bridge too far for the president so he\u2019s just opted to say out of the race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cornyn also argued that Paxton is a liability in a general election, where Democrats hope to flip the seat blue, and \u201cKen Paxton would hand it to them on a silver platter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, in his social media post, said Cornyn was \u201ca good man\u201d but \u201che was not supportive of me when times were tough.\u201d He complained that \u201cJohn was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The runoff between Cornyn and Paxton had been shaping up as a bitter and expensive battle for the future of the Republican Party, and one that was diverting resources from other competitive races elsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Trump frustrated some Republicans by declining to endorse earlier in the race. On the Friday before the March 3 primary, he said that he had \u201cpretty much\u201d decided whom to support \u2014 but declined to say who \u2014 when asked by reporters on a visit to Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n

On the day after the primary, Trump promised to make an endorsement and said he would expect the candidate without his support to drop out. Paxton had said that he would not leave the race.<\/p>\n

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Trump has had an at-times cool relationship with Cornyn, notably after the senator suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his \u201ctime has passed him by.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornyn also was an early critic of\u00a0Trump\u2019s plan for a border wall\u00a0between the U.S. and Mexico \u2014 a project he now supports.<\/p>\n

A former state attorney general and state Supreme Court judge, Cornyn was first elected to statewide office 36 years ago. His understated style and judge\u2019s temperament contrast with the fiery rhetoric of Trump and his Make America Great Again movement.<\/p>\n

Cornyn has had support from Senate Republican leadership, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who warned that \u201cit is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Republican leaders have worried the party will need to spend much more money to defend the seat if Paxton is the nominee \u2014 money they could be spending on Senate races in more competitive states. Paxton was\u00a0acquitted in a 2023 impeachment trial\u00a0on corruption charges. He also\u00a0reached a deal\u00a0in 2024 to end a long-running securities fraud case.<\/p>\n

Trump stoked the competition on Feb. 27 in Corpus Christi, noting there\u2019s \u201ca little bit of a race,\u201d while acknowledging their attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a great attorney general, Ken Paxton. Where\u2019s Ken? Hi, Ken,\u201d Trump said. He continued, \u201cAnd we have a great senator, John Cornyn. Hi, John.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be an interesting one, right? They\u2019re both great people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Trump mentioned the third candidate, Hunt, after running through the long list of Texas lawmakers present.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother friend of mine who is doing very well, Wesley Hunt,\u201d he said. \u201cWesley Hunt, what a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas. Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the 2026 elections at\u00a0https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/elections.<\/em><\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump has endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, supercharging his effort to oust incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a Republican primary runoff. Paxton and Cornyn qualified for the May 26 runoff after a March 3 primary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump endorses Paxton in Texas Republican primary, boosting his challenge to incumbent Sen. 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