\n<\/p>\n
The Texas Senate Republican primary runoff is pressing onward, as President Donald Trump has yet to make an endorsement between Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the May 26 runoff.<\/p>\n
When neither Paxton nor Cornyn was able to deliver a decisive victory in the initial vote \u2014 triggering the coming runoff \u2014 Trump indicated that an endorsement of one candidate was imminent. He did not name the candidate at the time \u2014 and has not indicated since who he might endorse or when \u2014 but said that when he did deliver his endorsement, he planned to call on the other candidate to drop out of the race.<\/p>\n
A GOP operative familiar with the Cornyn campaign said that the campaign have not heard anything regarding where the president stands on an endorsement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSenator Cornyn over-performed all expectations by winning the March 3 primary after Ken Paxton spent two weeks predicting he would win without a runoff,\u201d Cornyn campaign senior advisor Matt Mackowiak said in a statement, adding that Cornyn has \u201cvoted with President Trump 99.3% of the time and is one of his most effective allies in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats nominated their strongest candidate for U.S. Senate. Texas Republicans must nominate John Cornyn who is our strongest nominee by far to gain five new Congressional seats and advance Trump\u2019s legislative agenda in the final two years of his second term,\u201d Mackowiak added.<\/p>\n
The Daily Wire reached out to the Paxton campaign for comment. Paxton is backed by Turning Point Action, and Cornyn is backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe runoff electorate is gonna naturally favor Paxton, because these are conservatives, these are people that are enthusiastic to turn out and support a strong attorney general and President Trump,\u201d a Republican consultant told The Daily Wire on background in order to speak freely about the race.<\/p>\n
NBC News<\/a> reported on March 14 that the president would make a decision \u201cover the next week or so,\u201d but no announcement had been made even after two weeks had passed.<\/p>\n \u201cI like both candidates very much,\u201d he told the outlet, stressing that \u201ca lot has to do with the SAVE America Act.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot is going to determine \u2014 Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Paxton made waves after posting to X on March 5 that he would consider dropping out of the competitive runoff election if the Senate was able to pass the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n \u201cI would consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act,\u201d Paxton<\/a> wrote.<\/p>\n The Republican later criticized Cornyn for his New York Post<\/a> op-ed, saying he would back potential changes to Senate rules in order to pass the voter identification legislation, calling it a \u201chistoric\u201d pivot.<\/p>\n Cornyn wrote in the op-ed that he had previously backed the \u201c60-vote threshold to protect the country,\u201d but said that \u201cwhen the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to the SAVE America Act push, Paxton had previously said he would remain in the race even if the president gave Cornyn his blessing.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s bad for him to say,\u201d Trump told Politico<\/a> on March 5. \u201cThat is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Whoever wins the May 26 runoff will face off against Democrat James Talarico, at whom who the president had taken direct aim despite not weighing in on the Republican race. In a March 22 Truth Social post<\/a>, the president called Talarico a \u201cweak, ineffective guy.\u201d<\/p>\n The president added that \u201cthis guy is worse\u201d than his primary opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not matter because they\u2019re both solid candidates,\u201d an individual familiar with Republicans thinking on the race said on background, saying that recent coverage of the Democrat has been hurting his campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, it\u2019s more likely that Talarico drags Dems down at the bottom of the ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n The Daily Wire reached out to the Talarico campaign for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n