Trump Endorses Scandal-Ridden Ken Paxton for Texas Senate

After months dangling the carrot, Donald Trump has finally endorsed a candidate in next week’s runoff for the Texas Republican Senate nomination. 

The president has thrown his support to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, bucking four-term incumbent Senator John Cornyn and instead tipping the scales in favor of a far-right attack dog that  (much like himself) has overcome a myriad of political and personal scandals — mostly by bluster and apparent shamelessness.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to WIN. Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness,” Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post explaining his decision. “WE HAVE ALREADY MADE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, BUT NOW, WE WANT TO MAKE OUR NATION BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE. Therefore, Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas – KEN PAXTON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” 

The president included some conciliatory words for Cornyn, calling him a “good man,” but accusing him of not being “supportive of me when times were tough.” By contrast, Trump extolled Paxton as having been “extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT.” 

The runoff is set to take place on Tuesday, May 26. Cornyn narrowly edged out Paxton in the state’s primary, which took place in March. Trump initially floated endorsing his favored candidate, and having the other drop out in order to focus on the general race against Democratic candidate James Talarico, but held off for two more months. 

Paxton wrote on X that he was “incredibly honored” to receive the president’s endorsement. “No one has ever fought harder for the American people than President Trump, and I look forward to championing his America First agenda in the Senate.” 

The state attorney general is Texas’s very own sinkhole for scandal. Impeached by members of his own party, accused of infidelity by his wife, and the subject of a myriad of professional misconduct allegations, Ken Paxton made a name for himself on the national stage by turning Texas into a sandbox for Trumpism. Paxton filed lawsuits alleging fraud in several states after the 2020 election, in support of Trump’s unproven conspiracy theories. He supported the invocation of eminent domain along the Texas border to build Trump’s wall, launched investigations into civil rights groups, and threatened to prosecute doctors who performed emergency pregnancy terminations.

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Polling ahead of the runoff indicates a tight race between the two Republican candidates, with Paxton holding a slight edge over Cornyn. The bigger test will come in November, when the winner will face off against Talarico amid the backdrop of an unpopular president. While Trump selected Paxton for his loyalty to the MAGA movement, it’s actually Cornyn who polls better against Talarico in surveys of November’s vote. 

In a statement issued shortly after Trump’s announcement, Cornyn wrote that he had “worked closely with President Trump through both of his Presidential terms and voted with him more than 99% of the time. He has consistently called me a friend in this race. It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about.” 

 “I trust the Republican voters of Texas,” Cornyn added. 

In his own statement, Talarico’s campaign wrote that “it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff. We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system […] For decades, John Cornyn and Ken Paxton have embodied a broken politics that enriches wealthy donors while costs skyrocket for the rest of us.”
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Texas had not elected a Democrat to statewide office in over three decades. Talarico’s bid remains a long shot, but in a midterm year where the combination Trump’s erratic governance, violent immigration crackdown, blatant corruption, and war of choice in Iran is  alienating large swaths of his 2024 coalition — including Hispanic voters all over Texas, the door might be open. 

In primary elections across the country, Trump is attempting to remind his party that he is still in command, and that dissent will be met with electoral retribution. So far Trump’s power over Republican voters remains unmatched and he has punished politicians who have dared to slip out of lockstep with the White House’s extreme agenda. But as much as Trump can impose his will on Republican primaries, general election voters get to have the final say on Election Day.