Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) trails Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) by 22 points, according to a new independent poll of the Senate GOP primary, 50% to 28%.
Punchbowl News: “When asked in a recent TV interview why he was trailing Paxton in early polls, Cornyn attributed it to “primarily name identification.” But only 7% of voters hadn’t heard of Cornyn, per Blizzard’s poll, while 5% had not heard of Paxton.”
“Sen. John Cornyn has enlisted Chris LaCivita, a top political adviser to President Trump, to help him beat back a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Axios reports.
“LaCivita’s involvement doesn’t guarantee an endorsement from Trump in what is expected to be the GOP’s most expensive Senate primary. But it does show how Cornyn, long regarded as more country club than MAGA, is moving to align himself with the president.”
“With the GOP’s Texas Senate primary already getting nasty, many Republicans are nervous that Sen. John Cornyn can only beat Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton if President Donald Trump intervenes — and sources said that seems unlikely at the moment,” NOTUS reports.
“Several polls show Cornyn trailing. But the severity of the situation became clear last week when Cornyn touted a poll on X showing him down 16 points, reasoning that Paxton’s lead is ‘shrinking already.'”
Said Cornyn: “He must be getting nervous.”
“Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is boasting a 99% voting record with President Trump in a new memo,” Axios reports.
“The four-term senator and his firebrand primary challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, are battling to win Trump’s coveted endorsement in what is quickly shaping up to be the most dramatic and expensive GOP primary of the cycle.”
“Beto O’Rourke may be hitting the campaign trail in Texas again, signaling that if Texans want him to run for U.S. Senate in 2026, he ‘will’ take up the challenge that left him defeated in 2018,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
Said O’Rourke: “I’m going to do whatever is most helpful for the people of Texas… I’m going to do whatever is the greatest good for the greatest number in this state…Whatever I can do, wherever I’m helpful, that’s where I’m going to be.”
“Get ready for a blockbuster primary between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2026,” Punchbowl News reports.
During a wide-ranging interview, Paxton “gave the clearest signs yet that he’s planning to challenge Cornyn in what could be one of the most expensive Senate primaries in history.”
Said Paxton: “I think I can win if I have $20 million. I’ve run these primaries in Texas before. I honestly don’t see how he overcomes his numbers.”
A new UT Tyler Poll finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) clinging to a two-point lead over challenger Colin Allred (D), 47% to 45%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R) ahead of challenger Colin Allred (D), 50% to 46%.
A new internal poll for Allred shows the race tied, 46% to 46%.
“A Democratic super PAC is hitting the airwaves in Texas, looking to boost Rep. Colin Allred by focusing on abortion in his underdog but increasingly competitive race against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz,” NBC News reports.
“Senate Majority PAC, the party’s main outside group involved in Senate races, is planning to spend $5 million on a TV ad buy across the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio media markets.”
“As polls show his race tightening, Sen. Ted Cruz is lashing out at national Republicans for not doing more to help him in his battle against Democrat Colin Allred,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
“Cruz told Fox News he’s being massively outspent by Allred on the airwaves and couldn’t even afford to get his own ads on TV until three weeks ago. And he complained Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t spent a penny on the race even though his PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, is sitting on millions of dollars meant to fight for a GOP majority.”
“So to every Texas woman at home and every Texas family watching this, understand that when Ted Cruz says he’s pro life, he doesn’t mean yours.
— Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), in his debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
A new Marist poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R) leading challenger Colin Allred (D), 51% to 46%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll finds Cruz leading Allred, 48% to 44%.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who is one of the preeminent critics in his party of Donald Trump, will lead a GOP group backing Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) in his drive to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Texas Tribune reports.
The Cook Political Report moved its rating for the Texas Senate race from Likely Republican to Lean Republican as Democrats are making a “multimillon dollar investment” in the race.
“Facing a tight re-election race, hardline Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is now claiming that he’s a bipartisan champion of reaching across the aisle,” Politico reports.
Said Cruz: “What is new is not that I’m passing bipartisan legislation that helps produce jobs in Texas. I’ve been doing that since the day I arrived in the Senate. What is new is we’re finally getting the press to report on it.”
A new Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation poll in Texas finds Ted Cruz (R) just ahead of Colin Allred (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 45%.
A new University of Houston/Texas Southern University poll finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) leading challenger Colin Allred (D) by just three points in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 44%.
The survey echoes a Manhattan Institute poll released earlier this month that showed Cruz leading, 46% to 43%.
In the presidential race, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by nine points.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.