Texas U.S. Senate Runoff: Cornyn and Paxton battle for Republican nomination as early voting begins
Paxton, Cornyn spar as early runoff voting begins
Early voting for runoff elections began in Texas on Monday, and both John Cornyn and Ken Paxton traded barbs ahead of their Republican Senate nomination runoff. FOX 4's Steven Dial has more on what the two said.
DALLAS - Early voting is underway this week in Texas for several runoff elections. The one that is getting the most attention is the Republican primary runoff for United States Senate.
This U.S. Senate race is the most expensive in history. Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn is hoping to do what no Texan has done by winning a fifth term. But Attorney General Ken Paxton thinks there is enough division in the Republican party to kick Cornyn out of office.
John Cornyn vs. Ken Paxton
What we know:
Both candidates in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate are trying to show that they are the most loyal candidate to President Donald Trump
The president has said good things about both Cornyn and Paxton, and has not made an endorsement in the race, despite a promise to do so.
Paxton has slammed Cornyn for saying in 2020 that time has passed Trump and that he would hurt the Republican Party. Since those comments, Cornyn has been in lockstep with the president.
Cornyn trailed in the polls leading up to the March primary. But once the ballots were counted, he had more votes than Paxton.
Cornyn has been in office since 2002 and has never lost an election.
What they're saying:
FOX 4’s Steven Dial got the chance to talk to Cornyn while he was in town for a campaign event.
"You’ve never lost an election. Why is this year so tough for you? Why do you think there is a section of the Republican Party in Texas who doesn’t support you this go around?" the reporter asked.
"Well, you got to tell the story and that’s what campaigns are all about. And when you run every six years, we got a lot of people moving into the state that don’t know about our recipe for success, the Texas model of success. And so, you got to tell the stories and so that’s like I said, campaigns are all about sometimes, you know, just got to remind people of what they already knew," Cornyn said.
The other side:
Paxton was also in North Texas on Monday but did not talk to reporters. During a speech to his supporters, he continued to discuss Cornyn’s support for Trump.
"He's not a big Donald Trump fan. He's been, he was, he said he should not be reelected. That he likely should go to jail. He didn't. He was not supportive in any of the election stuff. He fought him in 2016 on his first election, saying it was an albatross around our necks. What happened to John Cornyn that changed his position a year ago? Does anybody know? I got in the race and now all of a sudden, John Cornyn has spent $100 million talking about how much he loves Donald Trump," Paxton said.
Bill Cassidy loses in Louisiana
Big picture view:
There was big news over the weekend as Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed challenger in Louisiana.
Southern Methodist University political scientist Matthew Wilson said that might be a bad sign for Cornyn, but it’s not guaranteed. There are some major differences between this race and the Louisiana race.
"Cassidy, in voting to impeach Donald Trump, made himself persona non grata in MAGA world in a way that John Cornyn simply didn't. And so, Cassidy had much more serious problems to face from the Trump base than John Coronyn does. President Trump has actually said some good things about John Cornyn. He has appeared with John Cornyn. He has praised John Cornyn. He never did that for Bill Cassidy," Wilson said.
James Talarico's poll numbers
By the numbers:
The winner of the runoff will face Democratic challenger, James Talarico, in the general election.
A new poll out on Monday from Texas Southern University shows the potential head-to-head with Talarico.
The poll shows Cornyn with a one-point lead over Talarico, while Paxton is tied with the Democratic state representative.
Those results are within the margin of error, and show just how tight the race could be in November.
Early voting is underway
Early voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday through Friday of this week.
See below for a list of early voting locations in your county:
- Dallas County early voting locations and hours
- Tarrant County early voting locations and hours
- Collin County early voting locations and hours
- Denton County early voting locations and hours
Election day is next Tuesday.
The Source: FOX 4's Steven Dial gathered information for this story by attending campaign events for both John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. He also talked to SMU political scientist Matthew Wilson and looked at recent polls from Texas Southern University.