It was an unfamiliar setting for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton: the candidate walked out to applause at a bar rally in east Texas, a venue that reflected the way he has been trying to sharpen his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. John Cornyn with early voting set to start Tuesday for the March 3 GOP primary.
Paxton, who announced his candidacy for the Senate about 10 months ago, used the event as part of a broader push to unseat Cornyn, a four-term incumbent. The rally, held with supporters numbering about 100, represented a more public and higher-profile phase than Paxton’s earlier campaign activity, which drew less attention and relied more on his role as attorney general.
Until this week, Paxton’s campaign had been relatively lower-wattage, with comparatively little spending and attention focused largely on his conservative priorities in the state attorney general’s office. That approach is now shifting as he schedules stops across Texas during the week and begins airing ads that tie his candidacy to President Donald Trump.
At Monday’s rally, Paxton criticized Cornyn as aligned with the political establishment, saying, “His money is coming from the D.C. establishment. That’s how he can afford these commercials and that’s how they always try to convince us from Washington with their money that we should select their person. Well, I’m not their person and I’m never going to be there person.” The comment drew applause from supporters at the bar.
Paxton’s campaign is also aiming to position him as a front-runner despite longstanding ethical and personal questions that have dogged him in Texas politics. The race comes amid lingering attention to his 2023 impeachment fight over fraud charges and claims by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, about marital infidelity, according to the AP report. Paxton is banking on voters viewing his defiance of party leaders and his aggressive litigation on conservative priorities as a counterweight to those concerns.
The increased emphasis on the primary contest aligns with the timing of early voting and the way competing Republicans are trying to consolidate support ahead of a nomination that could be decided on the first ballot. Paxton kicked off a four-day run of rallies organized by Lone Star Liberty PAC, a super PAC supporting him, to highlight that early voting in Texas begins Tuesday. His earlier stops included county GOP gatherings and visits to Texas college campuses last fall tied to Turning Point USA chapters, after conservative Christian leader Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
The advertising push reflects the escalating contest among the three Republicans seeking the nomination outright. Until Friday, Paxton had a single television ad in Texas costing $674,000 to air, according to AdImpact, and it attacked Rep. Wesley Hunt rather than Cornyn. Paxton’s allies later launched broader efforts aimed at peeling off Hunt’s supporters, with the goal of reaching at least 50% of the primary vote; if no candidate crosses that threshold, the top two finishers would advance to a May 26 runoff.
Paxton’s new ad strategy also includes Trump-linked messaging. The report says Paxton’s campaign began airing an ad Friday with clips of Trump praising Paxton and images of them together, noting that Trump had not endorsed any of the three Republicans as of Monday. When Trump was asked about the Texas Senate race on Air Force One, he said, “I haven’t made a decision on that race yet. I like all three of them.”
Outside the campaigns, some Republicans who are not affiliated with either side’s effort see Paxton’s approach as resonant with voters who view him as confronting powerful interests. Retired businessman Vincent Coglin, speaking from Marshall in east Texas, said Paxton reminds him of Trump and described Paxton as someone who “says what he’s going to do and he does it.”
In his campaign, Paxton continues to rely on the record and policy priorities associated with his attorney general’s office. The AP report lists lawsuits and legal efforts tied to issues that are central to social conservatives, including a suit challenging Texas physicians’ compliance with the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, and a case accusing companies behind Tylenol of marketing claims tied to pregnancy. The report also describes Paxton’s litigation against federal immigration and border policies under the Biden administration, along with repeated legal challenges during the latter part of the Obama administration.
Cornyn’s effort, meanwhile, is being defined by the scale and focus of spending aimed at undermining Paxton with primary voters. As of Friday, Cornyn’s campaign and allied super PACs had spent more than $54 million on television advertising since last year, according to AdImpact. Much of it has emphasized Paxton’s impeachment and allegations resurfacing around his wife’s divorce claim on “biblical grounds,” as well as broader attacks carried through other advertising and outreach channels.
The report adds that Republican strategists and Senate GOP leaders in Washington argue that Cornyn would be better positioned to hold the seat in a general election, warning that Paxton would require far more money to defend amid expected attacks. It also notes that Democrats are seeking nominations to challenge the winner in November, including U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, and that a memo obtained by the AP from advisers to the National Republican Senatorial Committee said, “Cornyn wins the general election. Paxton puts the seat at risk.”