Ken Paxton (AP Photo)
Texas Attorney GeneralKen Paxtonofficially declared his candidacy for the US Senate on Tuesday night during an appearance on The Ingraham Angle on Fox News, launching what is expected to be one of the most heated and expensive Republican primaries in recent Texas history.
“It’s time for a change in Texas,” Paxton told host Laura Ingraham, making clear his intention to unseat incumbent Republican SenatorJohn Cornyn. “It’s time that we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also supportDonald Trumpin the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way.”
Paxton’s announcement arrives shortly after federal prosecutors ended a long-running corruption probe into his activities, clearing a major cloud that had hung over his political future for years. The timing of his bid follows Cornyn’s formal launch of his re-election campaign two weeks ago, as the senior Texas senator seeks a fifth term in office.
Tensions between the two Republicans have been simmering for years, with Paxton frequently branding Cornyn a “RINO,” or “Republican in name only,” and accusing him of being out of step with grassroots conservatives and insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump.
The intra-party fight has already turned bitter. Within hours of Paxton’s announcement, Cornyn’s campaign posted on X, formerly Twitter, slamming Paxton as a hypocrite. “Ken Paxton is a fraud,” the statement read. “He talks tough on crime and then lets crooked progressive Lina Hidalgo off the hook… uses fake Uber accounts to meet his girlfriend and deceive his family.”
Cornyn allies also took aim at Paxton’s legal controversies and alleged ethical lapses. Meanwhile, Paxton hit back by questioning Cornyn’s conservative credentials and slamming his past opposition to Trump during the 2016 election, as well as his role in crafting a bipartisan gun control bill in the wake of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
Despite Cornyn’s longtime support for conservative policies — his campaign pointed out that he has voted with Trump more often than 95% of sitting senators — Paxton has positioned himself as the MAGA candidate, directly appealing to the populist base of the party.
“This sets the table for the most expensive primary in Texas,” GOP strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. “It will be a brutal battle,” he added, noting that Paxton’s Senate bid will also create a wide-open contest for the now-vacant attorney general seat, with several candidates expected to jump in.
Veteran Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak predicted a high-stakes, bare-knuckle fight between two deeply entrenched figures inTexas politics. “This is going to be the most expensive, nastiest, most aggressive, most personal US Senate primary in Texas history,” he said, adding that both sides “do not like each other, and the stakes could not be higher.”
Paxton has not kept his Senate ambitions a secret. As early as September 2023, he criticized Cornyn in a Fox News interview, saying, “I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,” and declaring, “somebody needs to step up and run against this guy.”
He has also teased a potential campaign at GOP meetings and in January told Fox News Digital that he was “looking potentially at the US Senate.”
Cornyn, 73, a fixture of Texas Republican politics since the early 2000s, has served as state attorney general, Texas Supreme Court justice, and US senator since 2002. Despite his credentials, many grassroots conservatives view him with suspicion — a dynamic Paxton is eager to capitalize on.
As Paxton joins the fray, the stage is set for a no-holds-barred primary clash that could reshape the future of the Texas GOP — and determine which faction truly holds power within the party.
