President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will endorse a candidate “soon” in the GOP Senate primary in Texas, a move Republicans say could be decisive in the decision between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that anyone who doesn’t back down should drop out of the race, writing that the primary must “QUIT NOW.”
“My endorsements within the Republican Party are almost unbeatable!,” Trump wrote. “It is a great honor to note and say that almost everyone I endorse WINS, and wins by a lot, especially in Texas! I will be making an Endosement soon, and I will ask the candidate I am not endorsing to GET OUT OF OFFICE ASAP! Is that right? We have to win in November!!!”
Before Tuesday’s primary, one person familiar with White House thinking on the race said Trump might endorse Cornyn if the senator keeps the race close.
That person suggested that Cornyn was considered a safe bet to hold the seat, given Paxton’s various conflicts. Paxton’s wife is divorcing on “biblical grounds,” and he was indicted in 2023 on bribery and corruption charges, although the state Senate acquitted him.
Cornyn and Paxton advanced to the May 26 runoff after neither candidate won a majority of the vote Tuesday. Cornyn narrowly leads Paxton, 42% to 41%.
“We believe Trump’s case for endorsing Cornyn is strong,” a Cornyn campaign official said Wednesday. The official declined to say whether the campaign was connected to the White House, but added, “Stay tuned.”
Senate Republican leaders, who have been pushing Trump to back Cornyn for months, repeated those calls Wednesday, saying he would be a strong nominee as Democrats look to make the race historically red in the fall.
Democrats selected state Rep. James Talarico as their party’s nominee on Tuesday. Some Republicans view Talarico as a more powerful opponent in the general election than Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who was known for her anti-Trump style.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.
“He has a chance to win the race,” Thune said of Cornyn, “and if the president concedes early that saves everybody a lot of money, and a lot — just 10 weeks of campaigning with a spirit on our side that keeps us from spending time focusing on the Democrats.”
Senate Majority Leader John Barasso, R-Wyo., said, “We need to hold that seat, which means we need to nominate someone to win in November, and to me, there’s only one of those two who will enter the runoff, and that’s Jon Cornyn. I would encourage the president to support him. The president will make his own decisions in his own time.”
George Seay, a longtime Cornyn supporter and top Texas Republican donor, said Wednesday that Trump’s endorsement could end the primary battle.
“It would be refreshing if the President just came out and said, ‘Let’s re-elect John Cornyn, enough of this.’ We’d all love that,” Seay said, later adding, “If he does that, it’s over.”
Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas Republican strategist who managed Cornyn’s 2014 re-election campaign but did not participate in this year’s race, said he expects both Cornyn and Paxton to make their case to the White House following Tuesday’s contest.
“To John Cornyn, you’re going to say you got a better shot against Talarico, you’re saving money for the party, etc. To Paxton, you’re going to say to the president, ‘I’ve been your most loyal friend and your friend in Texas. I never quit. And I’m with you all the way,'” Steinhauser said. “So the president will consider those arguments and we’ll see what he does.”
Paxton’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday, but a super PAC supporting him suggested it was gearing up for a fight.
“Ken Paxton enters the race pressured as the odds-on favorite against incumbent RINO John Cornyn after coming close to unseating the 30-year incumbent despite the DC establishment outscoring us 10-1,” said Gregg Keller, who runs the Lone Star Liberty PAC. He added that historically runoff voters are “very violent” and that polls have shown that Paxton is popular with Trump’s base.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who reiterated Wednesday that he is neutral in the primary, said Trump’s Truth Social post on the race “speaks for itself.”
“I am not surprised that the president will agree,” said Cruz. “I think we’ll all wait and see what he says.”
