Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday he’ll drop out of the Republican Senate runoff against incumbent John Cornyn if the upper chamber can find a way to pass a federal voter ID measure that has been stalled for weeks.
Mr. Paxton placed a close second in Tuesday’s primary against Mr. Cornyn and Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents greater Houston.
The results forced a May 26 runoff between Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Paxton, which President Trump said he’ll cut short by endorsing one of the candidates and asking the other to drop out.
Despite Mr. Paxton’s longtime loyalty and passionate support for Mr. Trump and the MAGA agenda, the president reportedly is poised to soon endorse Mr. Cornyn, who has served four terms and has the strong backing of Senate leadership and the party’s campaign arm.
Mr. Paxton’s exit from the race would relieve the GOP of a costly, protracted runoff for the Senate Republican nomination.
In a social media post, Mr. Paxton reiterated his allegiance to Mr. Trump but said he’d be willing to leave the race if the SAVE America Act passes.
“No one has been more loyal to Donald Trump than me — fighting the stolen 2020 election, being in Mar-a-Lago when he announced his 2024 campaign, and standing with him in NY in the face of lawfare. For the good of our country and for the good of passing President Trump’s agenda, I am determined to help him get this done,” Mr. Paxton posted.
Mr. Paxton called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act the most important piece of legislation the Senate could ever pass.
It requires voters to provide documents proving citizenship when they register to vote and to show photo ID at the polls. The House passed the measure mostly along party lines in February.
But Mr. Paxton’s condition for dropping out of the runoff may be impossible for the Senate GOP to achieve.
Most Democrats and at least one Republican oppose the SAVE America Act, and getting it out of Congress and to Mr. Trump’s desk for his signature would require eliminating or changing the decades-old filibuster precedent that requires 60 votes to advance the legislation without the need for a talkathon by lawmakers who oppose it.
It’s possible Mr. Paxton’s condition could be met if Senate Majority Leader John Thune implements a talking filibuster, which would require lawmakers who block legislation to give endless floor speeches, but even that move would not guarantee the bill can clear the Senate.
Mr. Thune, South Dakota Republican, hasn’t advanced the talking filibuster plan because many GOP lawmakers oppose the move.
Mr. Cornyn, 74, edged out Mr. Paxton, 63, in Tuesday’s race 41.9% to 40.7%, defying polls that showed the incumbent trailing Mr. Paxton by several points.
Neither candidate beat the 50% threshold needed to win outright because Mr. Hunt scooped up more than 13% of the vote.
Mr. Cornyn and outside groups dropped nearly $70 million on the primary, vastly outspending Mr. Paxton’s $4 million in spending.
Mr. Cornyn’s team said he’s the best candidate to face off against Democratic primary winner and state Rep. James Talarico, who ran on a populist economic agenda.
Team Cornyn argued in a campaign memo Wednesday that Mr. Paxton’s trail of legal and personal troubles accumulated during his decade as attorney general make him a risky candidate to run against Mr. Talarico as Democrats set their sights on flipping the seat blue for the first time in decades.
Their resource advantage, Cornyn campaign aides said, will be used “for the education of Texas voters into Ken Paxton’s myriad misdeeds.”
Mr. Paxton was impeached by the Texas House, indicted on three felony charges of state securities fraud and accused of marital infidelity that led his wife of 38 years to file for divorce.
He’s also accused of firing four top deputies who reported allegations of corruption to the FBI. The firings resulted in a lawsuit and subsequent $6.6 million judgment against the state that taxpayers must now pay.
Mr. Paxton argued Mr. Cornyn has accomplished little for Texas during his decades in office.
On Thursday he blasted Mr. Cornyn in his social media post, accusing the senator of blocking the SAVE America Act. Mr. Paxton also accused the media of trying to sabotage his runoff campaign with reports that Mr. Trump plans to endorse Mr. Cornyn.
“John Cornyn is a coward who has refused to support abolishing the filibuster to pass this bill. Now, Fake News reporters and the establishment are trying to destroy me with misinformation,” Mr. Paxton said.
