Criticism by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton indicates that he is considering a challenge to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 Republican primary.
The senator is riding a string of election victories going back decades, but Paxton is on a hot streak in state politics.
“He’s won statewide at the state level and won statewide at the federal level,” Minchillo said, noting Cornyn also has been elected as attorney general and a Texas Supreme Court justice. “He would be an incredibly tough candidate to beat, and I just feel like Paxton’s grassroots likability has its limits.”
“You have to strike while the iron is hot,” said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus. “For him to delay means that you can see a dozen other issues pop up in this political world.”Cornyn and Paxton have recently traded barbs on social media — exchanges that have fueled speculation about a 2026 political showdown.
“It would test whether he could keep his base together to challenge Cornyn,” Davis said. “As attorney general, he’s so popular and so admired by conservatives that they’re not hanging on every word about his legal problems. But if he’s convicted of some things, beating Cornyn becomes a super uphill climb.”at state Republican conventions, where the delegates are far more conservative than the broader Texas electorate, the senator has several strengths to rely upon.
“Cornyn is hovering above a real political problem,” Rottinghaus said. “He is right on the cusp of a full-scale campaign against his candidacy.”Trump endorsed Paxton in 2022 and supported Paxton-backed candidates in the March primary. As president, Trump praised the attorney general for leading several legal fights to defend his White House policies.
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