“John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself, both of which were Landslide Victories,” Trump explained.
Neither Paxton nor Cornyn received more than 50% of the vote during the state’s Republican primary in March, which triggered a runoff between the two candidates. Trump’s endorsement comes just a week before the May 26 runoff election.
A recent poll from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University, released on Monday, found that a race between either Cornyn or Paxton and the Democratic nominee for the seat, James Talarico, would be a tossup. In a Cornyn-Talarico race, 45% of likely voters said they would cast a ballot for Cornyn and 44% for Talarico, whereas in a Paxton-Talarico race, both candidates would get 45% of the votes.
Paxton, a strong supporter of Trump, has faced a litany of political and personal scandals dating back long before he launched his run for the Senate seat. In 2015, Paxton was indicted over accusations of defrauding investors. He pleaded not guilty, and the legal saga went on for nine years, during which he was reelected as state Attorney General twice. In 2024, Paxton struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to pay almost $300,000 in restitution and complete 100 hours of community service in exchange for the charges being dropped.
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