Texas GOP tussle heats up as Rep. Nehls accuses Cornyn of hoping ‘Ken Paxton to lose’ in crucial Senate showdown

Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas made a sharp accusation against his own party leadership this week: that Senator John Cornyn of Texas was secretly rooting for his former opponent to fail in the general election.

Nehls told CNN that Cornyn had been hoping Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general and the Trump-backed Republican nominee, would lose to Democrat James Talarico.

“He goes to bed, he’s thinking, ‘I need Ken Paxton to lose, because then I can look into the cameras and tell the voters of Texas, I told you, he wasn’t electable,’” Nehls said.

The context behind the accusation

Cornyn’s campaign pummelled Paxton with negative advertising, but Paxton’s connection to Trump proved more valuable than millions in television spots. When the runoff votes were counted on May 26, Paxton emerged as the Republican nominee for the seat.

In the months that followed, Cornyn refused to reconcile. While he publicly insisted he supported the Republican ticket, he declined to campaign for Paxton. More damaging still, Cornyn used media appearances to undermine the nominee’s electability.

In comments to the Texas Tribune, Cornyn labeled Paxton “a poor campaigner” who was “lazy and doesn’t raise money. “He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it, we are where we are.”

“This is unfortunately shaping up to be a close and I hope not disastrous election,” Cornyn added. “But it ain’t looking good right now.”

Cornyn’s response

When confronted with Nehls’s accusation, Cornyn doubled down on his criticism of Paxton while insisting he had not abandoned the ticket. He maintained that he wanted Republicans to hold the seat but believed Paxton was making that outcome unlikely.

“I stand by everything I said during the whole campaign,” Cornyn told reporters, referring to his primary attacks on Paxton.

Matt Mackowiak, a senior Cornyn campaign strategist, issued a statement accusing Paxton of lying to taxpayers, his staff and his wife.

“We are educating Texas GOP voters about Ken Paxton’s mismanagement of his office, his personal enrichment, his indefensible behavior and his disqualifying judgment in child sex abuse cases,” he stated, “Ken Paxton has no one to blame but himself.”

Paxton’s response

Paxton himself had fired back, accusing Cornyn of spreading falsehoods. “John Cornyn doesn’t tell the full story. He slants it to make it seem like something bad happened,” Paxton said in an interview on Fox Business.

Responding to accusations that he’s lazy, Paxton told The Sunday Briefing, “John Cornyn doesn’t know my schedule. He doesn’t know how many hours I’m putting in every day, 18 hours a day.”

Paxton added he has been “driving all over the state,” raising money and trying his “best to connect to as many voters as possible.”

The November elections

Paxton is facing an unexpectedly competitive race against Talarico, a state representative and Democrat trying to become the first member of his party to win statewide office in Texas in over three decades.

Recent polling revealed a tighter contest than Republicans had anticipated. While some surveys showed the race as nearly even, others gave Talarico a narrow advantage.

The driving force that appeared to be driving Talarico’s movement was his messaging on affordability. Voters ranked the cost of living and economic hardship as their top concern, an area where Talarico held a substantial edge in voter trust.

Talarico had also dominated the fundraising battle. The Democratic nominee had collected roughly $30 million for his campaign, far exceeding what Paxton had raised on his own