U.S. Sen. John Cornyn appears to be taking his upcoming primary challenge by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seriously. This week the incumbent Republican senator announced the leadership team for his 2026 reelection campaign, including several Republican staffers with ties to Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump.
“This is kind of inside baseball, but I think it’s notable that Cornyn is making a show of just rolling out such a serious team with lots of veteran campaign operatives,” said Jasper Scherer, politics reporter with The Texas Tribune. “I think most notably, he has hired Trump’s chief pollster on each of his two winning presidential campaigns, Tony Fabrizio, and has also brought on some other folks with ties to Trump world.”
Paxton has long allied himself with Trump and has framed himself in opposition to the Republican establishment – among which he counts Cornyn.
“The subtext there is that the possibility of a Trump endorsement is kind of the biggest factor looming over this race,” Scherer said. “So it’s a combination of Cornyn sort of getting serious about a tough race, and then also trying to demonstrate his sort of Trump and conservative allegiance.”
Hear more stories from the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
