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United States President Donald Trump has endorsed Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2018 the republican party to represent the state of Texas in the US Senate before the Republican primary next week.
In a long post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said Paxton “has been very loyal to me and the AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT” while also saying that his opponent, former leader John Cornyn, did not help him when “times were tough”.
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Cornyn pushed back against Trump’s claims that the longtime Texas senator did not support it.
“I have worked closely with President Trump throughout his presidency and voted with him over 99% of the time. He always calls me a friend,” Cornyn said in a tweet on X.
Paxton accepted the endorsement.
“I’m so blessed to have President Trump with ALL my support,” Paxton said in a post on X.
In March, Mr. Trump said that a candidate who did not receive his endorsement should be “OUT OF THE RACE”.
To achieve a party nomination in Texas, a candidate must win a majority. Neither candidate faced off in the state’s primary election in early March.
Texas also has open primaries, meaning that a voter does not have to be a member of a given party to vote in that party’s primary. However, voters must pledge to vote in one party only.
Paxton has been the favorite to win the Republican nomination, but he faces stiff competition in the general election. Paxton, 63, has never lost an election despite a string of controversies in his political career, including adultery and fraud charges. Paxton was also criticized, including by members of his own party.
Recent polls have made the Republican Party even more difficult. Early May polls from Texans for a Conservative Majority, a top PAC affiliated with Senator Cornyn, 74, had a 1-point lead. Meanwhile, a poll by the Lone Star Liberty PAC, sponsored by the pro-Paxton Super PAC, showed the attorney general leading by 11 points.
Some independent polls, such as those from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, showed Paxton with a 3-point chance.
Texas Republicans have expressed concern about Paxton’s performance in the general election. Matt Shaheen, a Texas state representative, said “Ken Paxton will be a disaster for the people who don’t like Texas!” in the post on X.
Problems with the Senate
The Republican nominee will face a difficult choice. The polls show James Talarico as the favorite or within a margin of error. A recently released poll from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center found that in the general election, Talarico is tied with Paxton, while Cornyn leads by 1 point.
Some votes are more difficult. A University of Texas poll shows Talarico leading by 7 points over Cornyn and 8 points over Paxton, while Texas Public Opinion Research shows Talarico leading by 5 points over Paxton and 3 over Cornyn.
Democrats have long argued that a majority of all races could turn Texas Democratic. However, despite these claims, a Democrat has not held office in the Lone Star State since 1994.
Strategists believe that this admission will further damage Trump’s relationship with the current Senate.
“Paxton, more likely than not, would have won without Trump’s endorsement.” Now Trump has alienated many Republicans in the Senate, Senator Thune, in particular, who has been pushing Trump relentlessly to endorse Cornyn,” Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas, told Al Jazeera.
“He has also bought himself John Cornyn who, if he loses on May 26, has no reason to support the Trump administration in the last seven months.”
Some Republicans questioned Paxton’s endorsement, with Maine’s Susan Collins calling him a “contrarian.”
Republicans currently hold the majority in the US Senate, with 53 seats. Democrats hold 45 seats, along with two independents – Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine – who are running against the Democrats.
