Man, I hate to see this guy leave Texas.
Scary to think who will replace him.
You just know the demoncraps are going to push some lacky into the AG posting.
The sacrifices Texas makes….
Texas AG to Newsmax: Challenging Sen. Cornyn in '26 Primary
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/ken-paxton-texas-john-cornyn/2025/04/08/id/1206187/
Tuesday, 08 April 2025 10:56 PM EDT
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an ally of President Donald Trump, told Newsmax on Tuesday why he will challenge Sen. John Cornyn in next year's Republican primary.
"Texans have not gotten the same type of representation from him as we have [Sen.] Ted Cruz," Paxton told "Finnerty." "He's pushed gun restrictions. He was not supportive of Trump building the border wall. He's criticized it many times, although he's been very supportive of sending that same money to Ukraine.
"And he's generally not been supportive of Trump, either in 2016, when he said he was an albatross around our neck, or in 2024, when he said he shouldn't run, that we should have another choice."
Paxton's candidacy poses the most serious threat to Cornyn, 73, since the four-term senator and former Texas attorney general was first elected in 2002. In the four previous Republican primaries, he gained below 77% of the vote only once, in 2014, when he got 59%.
Trump heavily criticized Cornyn in 2022 for the senator's support of a gun control measure in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed and 17 other people injured.
In 2023, Trump predicted in a Truth Social post that Cornyn, whom he referred to as "The Stiff," and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, would lose their next elections. Romney chose not to seek reelection in 2024.
"Who is a worse Senator, John 'The Stiff' Cornyn of Texas, or Mitt 'The Loser' Romney of Massachusetts (Utah?)?" Trump wrote. "They are both weak, ineffective, and very bad for the Republican Party, and our Nation. With even modestly skilled opposition, they'll lose their next Election."
But during Trump's first term, Cornyn voted more than 92% of the time with the president's agenda and voted for every one of Trump's executive and judicial appointees, The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday. Cornyn has followed a similar pattern in Trump's second term, backing all of the president's Cabinet picks so far.
"So, you know, he claims now as the primary is looming, 11 months away, that he loves Trump, and he supports Trump," Paxton said. "But that's a newfound religion. It's not the way he's been for the last six years."
Paxton has overcome controversies since becoming Texas attorney general in 2015. In the final weeks of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice chose not to pursue its investigation into Paxton over bribery allegations. He also had felony securities fraud charges hover over him for nearly a decade before he agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution.
In 2020, eight of Paxton's closest aides accused him of using his office to benefit a Texas real estate developer who employed a woman with whom Paxton was allegedly having an extramarital affair. He was impeached and acquitted in the Texas Senate in 2023.
Paxton said it should not be surprising to Cornyn that he is bidding for his seat, and when asked whether he likes Cornyn personally, he said, "we're not close; let's just say that" and that any bad blood "wasn't created by me."
"He started attacking me when I was running in primaries, and that I understand that he has a close connection to the Bushes," Paxton said. "And, of course, I had a [primary] race [where attorney] George P. Bush ran against me [in 2022], and [Cornyn] came out and said I was an embarrassment to Texas.
"That certainly can be his opinion, but I obviously think I've done a pretty good job as attorney general, certainly a better job as attorney general than he's done as a U.S. senator."