U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made official Wednesday what he has been saying for weeks: He will seek a fifth six-year term in Washington in 2026, leaning into his support of President Donald Trump and relitigating his complaints about the policies of former President Joe Biden.
“President Trump needs a partner who’s battled-tested to restore law and order, cut taxes and spending, and take back our jobs and supply chain,” Cornyn says in the video announcing his campaign, in which he also criticizes the spike in illegal immigration under Biden after Trump’s first term ended.
The announcement drew an almost immediate rebuke from Cornyn’s potential chief rival in the Republican primary — Attorney General Ken Paxon, who in a social post of his own suggested that the incumbent is cozying up to Trump more out of expedience than conviction.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn officially announced Wednesday that he will seek reelection.
“Are you delusional?” Paxton posted as a direct reply to Cornyn on his personal page on X. “You’ve constantly turned your back on Texans and President Trump, including trying to stop his campaign in 2024 and saying his ‘time has passed him by.’ Texans won’t believe your lies or forget how you’ve consistently worked to undermine the President.”
A primary battle between Cornyn — who by the time his current term ends will be tied for the second-longest time ofr a Texan to serve in the Senate — and Paxton could set the stage for one of the most heated statewide GOP primaries since Republicans began their full dominance of Texas politics in 2002.
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Texas Republicans have largely avoided bloody primary battles in statewide elections, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor. Paxton, a three-term attorney general, was forced into a runoff in 2022 against then-Land Commissioner George P. Bush, but the incumbent then trounced Bush 68% to 32%.
A Cornyn-Paxton matchup would likely be more dramatic, Rottinghaus said.
“It will be very bitter, and very expensive,” Rottinghaus said. “We’re talking around $40 million to $50 million, maybe more, for a primary.”
And Trump will be a factor, regardless of whether he chooses to make an endorsement, Rottinghaus said.
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“If he says nothing, it sort of levels the playing field,” he said. “But if he weighs in for one candidate or another, it could seal the deal.”
Cornyn began this year with a $4.1 million war chest, a healthy sum but one that would not go far in a grueling campaign in a state as large as Texas.
Paxton, in an interview with Punchbowl News published March 18, stopped short of saying he would challenge Cornyn but did make clear that he thinks the long-serving Republican is vulnerable within his own party.
“I think I can win if I have $20 million,” Paxton, who would have to forgo a reelection campaign for a fourth term, told the online news outlet. “I’ve run these primaries in Texas before. I honestly don’t see how (Cornyn) overcomes his numbers.”
Last month, a poll by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs showed both Cornyn and Paxton have reason to be optimistic about the March 2026 primary, although the attorney general might be viewed as somewhat stronger.
It was not a head-to-head matchup, but 62% of the Republican respondents said they would definitely vote, or at least consider voting, for Cornyn. But 68% said the same about Paxton.
Cornyn and Paxton have had an antagonistic relationship for more than two years. A former state attorney general himself, Cornyn described Paxton as “a source of embarrassment” over being indicted on security fraud charges, which were later dropped as part of a deal that included paying restitution to business associates involved in the case.
Paxton, meanwhile, has been unwavering in his support of Trump, appearing with him several times in Texas and speaking at the now-infamous rally near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump had sought to stop Congress from certifying his loss to Biden the previous November.
As Trump was preparing his comeback bid ahead of the 2024 election, Cornyn told Texas reporters in a conference call that Republicans should look for a newer face to represent the party. Earlier, Trump had called Cornyn a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only, because the senator had helped negotiate a bipartisan firearms safety bill that gun rights organizations had hope to defeat.
But Cornyn has never been part of the GOP camp of “never Trumpers.” After Trump decisively won the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary early in the 2024 election cycle, Cornyn endorsed Trump’s bid to return to the White House. Although Texas was considered safely in the Republican column last year, Cornyn in public appearances in the state made clear he was working to defeat the Democratic ticket led by then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Why Republican John Cornyn says he wants a 5th term in US Senate
