Months after losing the Republican U.S. Senate runoff to Attorney General Ken Paxton, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is still trashing his former opponent—and apparently has no plans to help him raise the money Republicans say is needed to win in November.
Cornyn, who lost to Paxton by nearly 30 points in May, went to the liberal Texas Tribune late last week to continue his months-long critique of the candidate who will be at the top of the ballot.
“Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Cornyn said, who lost to Paxton by nearly 30 points in May. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it — we are where we are.”
Yet despite warning that Republicans could be headed toward a “disastrous” result, Cornyn isn’t directing his fundraising efforts toward preventing one.
Instead, he says he plans to help Republican Senate candidates in other states.
That comes as some other Senate Republicans are claiming they don’t have money budgeted to defend the Texas seat.
“We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas,” Louisiana U.S. Sen. John Kennedy said Sunday on Fox News.
Federal political action committees affiliated with the Senate GOP leadership spent close to $100 million trying to save Cornyn in the March primary and May runoff.
Kennedy warned that Democrat James Talarico has been raising “bucket loads of money” and said Republicans may need President Donald Trump to make up the difference.
Cornyn’s refusal to rally behind Paxton also increasingly separates him from other Republicans who emerged from bitter primary fights this year.
For example, several state lawmakers involved in Paxton’s 2023 impeachment have since appeared at rallies supporting his Senate campaign.
Unity has been seen in other contests as well.
Last week, former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores attended a fundraiser for Eric Flores following their Congressional District 34 primary battle.
Similarly, State Rep. Briscoe Cain also appeared alongside Alex Mealer in a social media post over the weekend, months after Mealer defeated him in a Republican primary runoff for Congressional District 9.
Paxton, meanwhile, has taken a different approach toward his former opponent.
After defeating Cornyn, Paxton thanked him for his years of service, called for Republicans to unite, and has repeatedly said he would welcome Cornyn’s help in the general election.
So far, that help hasn’t come.
