Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, fresh from defeating four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in last week’s GOP primary runoff election, said he believes Senate leaders are ready to back his campaign and several have pledged support.
Mr. Paxton told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” he’ll meet Senate Majority Leader John Thune this week to discuss his general election campaign strategy to defeat Democratic nominee James Talarico.
He said he’s spoken to other top Republicans, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso.
“I think they’ve all pledged their support, along with other U.S. Republican senators,” he said.
Mr. Paxton, 63, defeated Mr. Cornyn, 74, following a bitter and massively expensive primary and runoff election in the Lone Star State.
Mr. Thune and most Republicans backed Mr. Cornyn in the race and pumped millions of dollars into his failed re-election bid against Mr. Paxton.
Now, they’ll have to get behind Mr. Paxton or risk losing the seat to Mr. Talarico, a 37-year-old Democratic state lawmaker who is running on a populist platform. He leads Mr. Paxton by 3 percentage points in a Texas Public Opinion Research poll taken after the runoff.
“We haven’t lost a statewide race since 1994, and this isn’t the time to do it,” Mr. Paxton said of Texas Republicans. “We need to unite and we need to fight together. And I’m willing to do that. I certainly think they are, too.”
Mr. Paxton beat Mr. Cornyn 64% to 36% in the runoff. His win was aided by a last-minute endorsement from President Trump, who praised him for his loyalty and unwavering support for the MAGA agenda.
Mr. Paxton said he believes his victory over Mr. Cornyn, with Mr. Trump’s backing, “sends a message” that the party needs to “listen” to the president.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who bucked the president and lost his endorsement, was defeated in his primary in May.
“I think what he’s trying to accomplish, most Americans want. Certainly, Republicans want it. So whatever we need to do to get behind the president, I’m for. And I think that message has been set both with the election in Texas and the election in Louisiana,” Mr. Paxton said.
Mr. Cornyn and his allies spent close to $100 million trying to take down Mr. Paxton, airing attack ads that highlighted Mr. Paxton’s personal and professional scandals.
Democrats quickly seized on Mr. Paxton’s alleged transgressions. As soon as Mr. Paxton declared victory on Tuesday, Mr. Talarico posted his opponent’s 2015 mugshot following his arrest on securities fraud charges that were later dropped.
Mr. Paxton was also impeached over corruption charges but was not convicted. Other attack ads highlighted his messy divorce and allegations of mistresses.
Mr. Paxton brushed off attack ads by members of his own party and Mr. Talarico.
“When you’re fighting the fight, you get attacked,” Mr. Paxton said Sunday. “Accusations don’t mean that the thing actually happened. They have to prove these things in our country. That they did not do with President Trump and that they did not do with me. And yet they continue to act like something bad happened when they have no proof of it.”
Mr. Paxton’s latest campaign ad attacks Mr. Talarico for past statements claiming God is “non-binary,” that there are six genders, and for his 2022 pledge to run a meat-free campaign for legislative office in a state where beef is the number-one agricultural commodity.
“The list goes on, and this isn’t just me making this up,” Mr. Paxton said. “This is what he actually said, and now he’s complaining that I’m quoting him with his, with his strange, weird comments.”
