John Cornyn

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Cornyn will support the “Republican ticket” in November, but he said Monday he still believes Attorney General Ken Paxton is a crook who is unfit for office and will put the seat at risk in November.

“I stand by everything I said during the whole campaign,” Cornyn told reporters as he returned Monday to the Capitol where he has represented Texas for nearly a quarter century.

Cornyn lost to Paxton by a wide margin in last week’s Republican runoff, the end of a year-long primary battle featuring brutal attacks between the two rivals. Cornyn and his allies spent heavily on ads hammering Paxton over alleged personal and professional misconduct.

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Paxton, who has denied wrongdoing, ran a campaign that leveraged his support among the conservative grassroots. He focused on criticizing what he said has been Cornyn’s disloyalty to President Donald Trump, who endorsed Paxton in the final days of the runoff.

Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin, in the general election.

Focusing on other races

Paxton is expected in Washington this week to meet with leading Republicans and raise money for what is likely to be an expensive campaign. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

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Talarico has shown he can galvanize his base and raise massive amounts of money – including $27 million in the first three months of 2026.

Raising money could be a challenge for Paxton, who was vastly outspent in the primary.

Cornyn has functioned as a kind of gatekeeper to many deep-pocketed Republican donors in Texas. He said Monday he will look to help with races in states such as Maine, Alaska and Michigan.

“I’d prefer a Republican to somebody like James Talarico,” Cornyn said. “But I’m going to concentrate most of my efforts on trying to keep the Senate by helping some of what I consider to be the more winnable races around the country.”

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He alluded to Trump’s decision to endorse Paxton in the final days of the runoff, after early voting had already started.

“Texas is so big and expensive that I think the president has made his choice and he can use some of the money he’s got to help,” Cornyn said. “I’m going to focus on other areas.”

Hunting for cash

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Monday he is “fully and enthusiastically” supporting Paxton, who he said has the most conservative record of any state attorney general in the country.

He said Talarico is too liberal for the state, but will raise a massive amount of money as Democrats pursue their long-held ambitions of flipping the state. Cruz predicted Paxton will win, but said making that a reality will require hard work.

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“It is critical that we ensure that Ken Paxton is able to communicate his message with the voters of Texas,” Cruz said. “I'm proud to be hosting a fundraiser for him and I'm going to be urging Texans and people across the country that want to ensure a Republican Senate, that they support his campaign financially, with their vote and in every other way.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee backed Cornyn in the primary and hammered Paxton with negative messaging. The NRSC scrubbed the internet of those attacks after Paxton won the runoff.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the NRSC chairman, praised Cornyn as a Republican warrior.

“But now I stand united with President Trump, Ken Paxton, and Texans who want to protect our Republican Majority,” Scott posted on X last week.

The NRSC on Monday established a joint fundraising committee with Paxton to help raise donations.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who backed Cornyn in the primary, told reporters he would meet with Paxton this week.

“Well, of course we're supporting our nominee in Texas,” Thune said when asked if he was endorsing Paxton. “Obviously, the Texas Senate seat is very, very important to our majority.”

He said it’s unclear how much Republicans will need to spend on the race.

“I assume, like usual, Texas will be an expensive state,” Thune said. “But I hope that there'll be a lot of folks out there who want to invest in making sure that it stays in Republican hands.”

Frog vs scorpion

After his defeat, Cornyn shared online the fable of the frog carrying a scorpion across a river, only for the scorpion to sting the frog midway and doom them both.

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Cornyn told reporters Monday the post was a “metaphor for Washington, D.C.” while not specifying who was supposed to be the scorpion and the frog in the story.

Asked what the runoff results say about the state of the Texas GOP, he highlighted the low turnout in the runoff.

“The Texas Republican Party is dysfunctional,” Cornyn said. “Part of the larger issue, and I don't know how to fix it, is we had 7% of registered voters vote.”

He said many times that many voters will show up in November, making it a much different electorate.

He highlighted how he has won all of his other primaries and general elections over his decades-long career in politics.