Texas GOP worries runoff could make party vulnerable before November election : NPR
The runoff between Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has Republicans worried that infighting ahead of the May primary could leave the Republican Party vulnerable ahead of the general election.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Texas Republicans are facing a runoff in their primary for a U.S. Senate seat. Andrew Schneider of Houston Public Media reports on the maneuvers.
ANDREW SCHNEIDER, BYLINE: President Trump said in a Truth Social article that he wants the Texas GOP to unite behind a single candidate to avoid a challenge from state Rep. James Talarico, who won the Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday. Trump has not said publicly who he is leaning toward, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Real America’s Voice on Wednesday that he will fight until the end of the Republican Senate primary, no matter what Trump says.
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KEN PAXTON: I’m staying in this race. I owe it to the people of Texas. I spent a year of my life campaigning for… against John Cornyn.
SCHNEIDER: Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn clinched the top spot against Paxton on Tuesday, but neither crossed the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Cindy Siegel, who chairs the Harris County Republican Party, says she thinks the GOP can beat Talarico in the general election, regardless of who Republicans ultimately nominate. But she says the party needs to unite, and fast.
CINDY SIEGEL: You fight like hell to get your candidate or to win your race. But you don’t want to fight so hard that you tear the party apart, that people can’t overcome it and support our entire slate of candidates.
SCHNEIDER: But Jon Taylor, a political scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio, says that at this point in the race, Trump’s support may not unify the state’s Republican voters.
JON TAYLOR: The MAGA base in Texas, they want Ken Paxton. They may support Trump, but they want Paxton.
SCHNEIDER: Taylor says neither Paxton nor Cornyn has any incentive to drop out simply at Trump’s behest. According to AdImpact, this is already the most expensive US Senate primary on record, and infighting among Republicans could drag on until the runoff scheduled for May 26.
TAYLOR: This is basically a fight over who can set the biggest pile of money on fire when it comes to this race, and it’s going to get even nastier and lower in the mud than it already has been. And I think that’s what Trump was trying to say, is that we need to avoid this if we want to keep this Senate seat.
SCHNEIDER: Trump says his support is, quote, “virtually insurmountable” within his party, but Texas will soon be a real test of that.
For NPR News, I’m Andrew Schneider in Houston.
INSKEEP: More news out of Texas: Congressman Tony Gonzales announced he won’t run for re-election after becoming outraged over an alleged affair.
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