https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/2 ... s-00935464
------------------------------------------------National Republicans are growing increasingly worried that having Paxton as the nominee will force them to spend massively to hold onto the seat, sucking away resources from other top battlegrounds. Many national GOP donors — who already shelled out big money to back Cornyn in the primary — and establishment Republicans fear Paxton would also be a drag down-ballot for the party. And Cornyn allies are furious that the president decided to jump in for the 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, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak freely without fear of retribution. “[Trump] 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 Paxton “WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!!!”
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.“Would I want to be John Cornyn right now? Hell no,” said a Paxton campaign aide, who dismissed the personal attacks against the attorney general as a “D.C. talking point that they used on Donald Trump in 2016, 2024.”The runoff’s result will either cement the influence of Trump’s loyal base, determined to knock out even the most conservative incumbents, or show that a growing number of Republicans are
sick of the score-settling — and are willing to buck the president.
Should Paxton prevail, it would be a stunning defeat for Cornyn, who held the seat since 2002. Many Republicans have long viewed him as the most influential politician in Texas, and the liaison for the Lone Star State’s powerful GOP donor class. Texas’ deep-pocketed Republican businesspeople — who elicit pilgrimages from candidates across the country running for any office — have long respected and backed Cornyn, and they poured millions of dollars into his reelection campaign this cycle.
“To say he’s the most adored politician by the donor class in Texas is an understatement,” said one Washington GOP strategist close to Cornyn. “That’s why this is hard to come to grips with, because he was viewed as the gatekeeper to every major donor in the state, and there’s not a close second.”Watch: The ConversationPlay Video
39:34
Ukraine’s ambassador on Trump, Putin and the path to peaceSome among the GOP donor class say that if Paxton prevails the general election will be Trump’s problem to deal with, and think he will need to deploy
MAGA Inc.’s $300 million war chest.
@Cannonpointer