John Cornyn

The Washington Examiner contacted the Paxton campaign for comment.

Throughout the bitterly divided primary, Cornyn referred to Paxton as a “con man,” a “fraud,” and a “flawed, self-centered, and shameless candidate.” But until now, Cornyn has been vague about his level of involvement with Paxton, beyond backing his party’s nominee. His refusal to stump for Paxton, beyond casting a ballot for him, reveals the extent of the bad blood between the Lone Star State Republicans and presents a lingering point of contention that could undermine Paxton’s efforts to win over Cornyn voters as Talarico also courts them.

Leadership-aligned Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), aggressively favored Cornyn. Since Paxton’s win, they’ve moved behind the attorney general in what could be the most expensive Senate race in the country. The contest favors the GOP as a “lean Republican” seat, but Democrats are prepared to spend heavily to boost Talarico. A Talarico win could help Democrats take control of the chamber.

A liberated Cornyn has, in recent weeks, been more willing to break with President Donald Trump. That includes Trump’s appointment to lead the nation’s intelligence community and a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” from the administration that could benefit U.S. Capitol rioters. An effort by Cornyn before the primary to designate U.S. Route 287 as “Trump Interstate” is no longer among his priorities.

Cornyn previewed more potential policy areas he may break with the president on a “case-by-case basis,” but he doubled down on his preference that Republicans maintain the majority.

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“I’m going to try to help the president because I want him to succeed. I want the Republican Party to succeed. I want the country to succeed,” Cornyn said. “But on a case-by-case basis, when I think there’s been overreach, or just a bad idea, I’m not going to hesitate to weigh in.”

He continued: “I think it’s important for the country that we maintain the majority. But first, we need to stop the circular firing squads and focus on Democrats.”