Posted on 02/09/2025 4:53:41 PM PST by T Ruth
With the new administration in place, the 2026 primaries have officially begun. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said he is considering a run to replace moderate Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.
Speaking to Republican Party members in Denton County Monday night, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, listed several Republicans he plans to purge from the Texas GOP for being insufficiently conservative.
Among those on Paxton’s list was Texas’ senior U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, one of the most powerful members of the Senate GOP.
The crowd erupted into loud applause as Paxton said, "The second thing we need to do, and I might play a role in this, is replace John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate."
***
Cornyn, meanwhile, has said he will "absolutely" run again in 2026.
In recent months, he has also been a vocal supporter of Trump’s Cabinet picks and has slammed Democrats for delaying confirmations for key positions. In a speech on the Senate floor earlier this month, he said, "Our first and most urgent task is to confirm President Trump's nominees for his Cabinet."
***
"The big question is whether Trump would support Paxton over Cornyn in a primary challenge," Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital.
"Cornyn’s never lost a race. Cornyn has a lot of support around the state. He’s traveled all corners of the state for a long time and is very well known and very well liked," said Mackowiak. "We haven’t had a Republican senator lose a primary since Richard Lugar in 2004.
***
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Cornyarn is a Republican?
Haven’t had a Republican senator lose a primary since when? I think I see your problem…
Onward!
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said he is considering a run to replace moderate Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.”
Cornyn has done fine on judges and Trump appointees...but if he were thinking of getting ‘cute’ with Trump’s last 3, just having Paxton breathing over shoulder will stop him.
“Cornyn ... In recent months, he has also been a vocal supporter of Trump’s Cabinet picks”
Too little, too late, Cornyn.
This is a page out of the playbook used by Lindsay Graham every 6 years when he poses as a consistent conservative during election time in South Carolina.
Please do not fall for it, Texans.
If the current senior senator from Texas is on the 2026 ballot I will either skip that race or vote for the Democrat.
If Senator Cornyn wants to be a moderate he can go back to the Texas Supreme Court.
Cornyn is a liberal. He only pretends to be conservative when he has to.
Paxton would be a great senator, but I would hate to lose him as AG.
Just do it!
Time for the baton to get passed. Cornyn has been in DC way too long.
Paxton would be a great improvement. But, I imagine Trump will stay neutral. He’s managed, so far, to keep the Republican coalition in the Senate, together. Cornyn and other RINO’s have been behaving themselves. As long as that continues, Trump has to stay neutral, at least publicly.
RINOs ‘B Gone!
Coryn will be 74 in 2026, if he wins he’ll be serving until he’s 80. Do we really need another 80 year old in the senate?
Paxton should have Musk find out how much Cornyn collects each month from USAID and use that in his campaign ads.
“Do we really need another 80 year old in the senate?”
An excellent point.
That’s good news to me.
If Paxton decides to run, I’ll volunteer to help.
How Cornyn thinks he can run again is clear sign of delusion and arrogance.
Someone PLEASE run against Lisa and Susan....PLEASE!!
You need to think about that post. Voting for Paxton in the primary is all neat and good, however, if Cornyn wins the primary, why would you vote for a democrat and jeopardize a majority in the senate. No matter how much you dislike the guy, retaining the senate majority is imperative. Folks that think and vote like you is why we lose elections in congress. We must retain the majority to continue Trumps objective.
Murkowski is not up for re-election until 2028. And there are also no party primaries in Alaska. The ballot is essentially nonpartisan. She got re-elected in 2022 with very little Republican support, but a handful that joined the near full support of non-Republicans in the state. Since there was no party primary, Trump’s rally was a mistake for the other Republican opponent as that solidified most of the non-Republican support behind Murkowski, when it was in doubt if she would even make it out of the top 4 at one point before that...prior to that it appeared that her gamble with pushing for RCV may have backfired.
As for Collins, she actually represents a state that is left of center, and she’s never claimed to be a conservative. Arguably she is to the right of her state as a whole. But that is not the case with Murkowski...although very Republican by tradition it is not super conservative, but Dan Sullivan is more indicative of the philosophy of that state vs. the way Murkowski has been.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.