The Texas attorney general, a firebrand with the endorsement of President Donald Trump, stood on the cusp of a runoff victory that could reshape the Republican Party in the state. But for many in his own party, the cost of that win is already coming due.
The primary contest between Paxton and incumbent Senator John Cornyn ends Tuesday night, but the damage may linger far longer. Armed with Trump’s backing, Paxton has emerged as the clear front-runner in the final days of a race that has pitted the party’s MAGA wing against its establishment core. Cornyn, a Senate giant seeking a fifth term, has fought back with a massive war chest and solidarity from senior Republican leaders in Washington, but the race has devolved into a bitter exchange of personal attacks.
“In Spanish, they call it lucha de gigantes, a fight between two giants,” said Daniel Garza, president of the LIBRE Institute, a conservative Texas-based group that has stayed out of the primary. “Post-runoff, you’re going to have to mend a lot of fences.”
The mudslinging has grown increasingly vicious. Cornyn has accused Paxton of being ethically unfit for office, while Paxton has argued that the 74-year-old incumbent is too old to continue serving in the Senate. Their relentless sparring has deepened existing divisions between the party’s hardliners and traditional moderates, leaving several Republicans in both Texas and Washington worried that Trump’s decision to endorse Paxton has alienated lawmakers on Capitol Hill and risks turning off major GOP donors who will be critical during the general election.
National Republicans are growing increasingly concerned that a Paxton nomination will force them to spend heavily to hold the seat, siphoning resources from other top battlegrounds. Many national GOP donors, who already shelled out big money to back Cornyn in the primary, fear Paxton would be a drag down-ballot for the party. Awaiting the winner is Democratic state Representative James Talarico, who has been raising huge sums and polling strongly against both GOP candidates, especially Paxton.
Cornyn allies are furious that the president intervened on behalf of a candidate they view as both morally objectionable and politically problematic for the general election. “The vitriol is going to be real,” said a Texas Republican state lawmaker who is supporting Cornyn and was granted anonymity to speak freely. “He has destroyed that trust there. No matter what we do for you, you will still stab us in the back. That’s what he did to Cornyn.”
Trump continued to stoke those divisions over the weekend, declaring on X that Cornyn was “VERY disloyal to me” and that Paxton “WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.” The president’s intervention has deepened the rift between the party’s factions, leaving some Republicans bracing for a messy primary finish and an even more costly general election. For a party already grappling with internal strife, the Texas runoff may be only the beginning of a longer and more painful reckoning.
