The News
DALLAS — All three Republicans in the Texas Senate race will have one more chance to get a surprise endorsement from President Donald Trump as they shake up their pre-primary plans to join him in Corpus Christi on Friday.
“Obviously, if the president comes to town, we want to welcome him,” the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, told Semafor. “We had some get-out-the-vote stuff; we flipped it to Saturday.”
Cornyn, who’s seeking the nomination for a fifth term, has trailed or tied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in public polling. Republicans are skeptical that either man can hit 50% of the vote on Tuesday and avoid a 12-week runoff — despite tens of millions of dollars in ad spending to aid Cornyn.
Some of those ads have targeted Rep. Wesley Hunt, a two-term Houston congressman who’s run as the pro-Trump, scandal-free alternative to Cornyn and Paxton; the attorney general has endured a series of personal-life and staffing scandals, previously with Trump’s endorsement.
Like Cornyn, Hunt and Paxton reshuffled their campaign schedules on what is typically a heavy day of Republican primary voting. Paxton canceled a rally in Denton County, more than 400 miles away, to make sure he could join Trump. While Trump has indicated he’ll remain neutral in their primary fight, the president is known to change his mind — and even a mild nod for one of the candidates on Friday could have an outsized effect.
“Wesley Hunt stood with President Trump from the very beginning,” Hunt told Semafor in a statement. “He crisscrossed the country campaigning alongside him. And any time President Trump comes to Texas, Wesley Hunt will stand with his fellow Texans and have his back.”
Gregg Keller, the spokesman for the super PAC that was set to host Paxton on Friday, said that “President Trump and Ken have always had a great relationship, and Ken wanted to be in Corpus to thank the President for his support over the years. We feel very good about our chances on Tuesday and, should it prove necessary, in a runoff.”
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David and Burgess’ View
Elected in George W. Bush’s first term, Cornyn has survived and adapted to a very different Republican Party. He easily fended off under-funded right-wing challengers in 2014 and 2020 — the second time, with Trump’s endorsement.
But when Trump lost the 2020 election, Paxton led the legal effort to overturn the result in key swing states. Sen. Ted Cruz supported that effort. Cornyn did not, and in 2022, was vocally uncomfortable with a Trump comeback, preferring an “open primary” and perhaps another nominee.
Republicans who took that stance have had to make amends or risk losing Trump’s favor. Trump pointedly didn’t endorse Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, another critic of the 2020 election challenges; this week Cruz endorsed his primary challenger Steve Toth, who’s attacked Crenshaw for not supporting Trump on Jan. 6.
Trump likes to keep Republicans (and everybody else) guessing, and could easily utter something on Friday that nudges Election Day voters toward a candidate. His primary-season message is that loyalty, not incumbency, will determine his support.
The message from candidates is: Yes, Mr. President. We get it.