SCOOP: This Texas Republican congressman endorses Paxton over Cornyn in Senate primary brawl

FIRST ON FOX - Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas is taking sides successful the Lone Star State's burgeoning GOP Senate superior conflict betwixt longtime Sen. John Cornyn and authorities Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Gooden, a four-term lawmaker who represents a legislature territory which includes parts of eastbound Dallas arsenic good arsenic ample swaths of suburban, exurban, and agrarian areas eastbound of the city, endorsed Paxton connected Thursday. He is known arsenic a MAGA firebrand and state of President Donald Trump.

"Attorney General Paxton is the blimpish champion we request successful the U.S. Senate," Gooden wrote successful a connection shared archetypal with Fox News.

He predicted that Paxton "will instrumentality a sledgehammer to the establishment, unafraid the border, and combat hard for President Trump’s agenda. Ken Paxton has my implicit and full endorsement."

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Rep. Lance Gooden endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton successful the 2026 U.S. Senate contention successful Texas. Paxton is superior challenging longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Gooden, who is simply a subordinate of the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees, is the 2nd subordinate of the Texas legislature delegation to backmost Paxton, pursuing Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, who endorsed the lawyer wide connected Wednesday.

As helium gears up for what volition astir surely beryllium his roughest re-election of his decades-long career, Cornyn has the backing of the apical Republican successful the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, arsenic good arsenic the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

And Republican sources confirmed to Fox News that Thune, arsenic good arsenic Sen. Tim Scott, R–S.C., the NRSC chair, person personally asked Trump to backmost Cornyn.

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The president's grip connected the GOP is stronger than ever and immoderate endorsement Trump whitethorn marque successful the emerging Republican Senate superior successful Texas would beryllium highly influential.

Paxton announced his candidacy Tuesday nighttime successful an quality connected Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."

"It's clip for a alteration successful Texas," Paxton, who archetypal won predetermination arsenic authorities lawyer wide successful 2014, said arsenic helium launched his campaign.

Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks astatine an lawsuit extracurricular the Texas Statehouse, connected Feb. 28, 2022, successful Austin. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

And pointing to blimpish Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Paxton argued that "it's clip that we person different large legislator that volition really basal up and combat for Republican values, combat for the values of the radical of Texas and besides enactment Donald Trump successful the areas that he's focused connected successful a precise important way."

Paxton has flirted for a mates of years with launching a 2026 superior situation against Cornyn, a erstwhile authorities senator, erstwhile Texas Supreme Court justice, and erstwhile authorities lawyer general, who archetypal won predetermination to the U.S. Senate successful 2002.

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Paxton has agelong claimed Cornyn does not correspond the blimpish values of Texans, and has accused the legislator of not being an state of Trump. He has besides regularly labeled Cornyn a "RINO," a "Republican successful sanction only" – an insult MAGA and "America First" Republicans person regularly utilized to knock much mainstream oregon constitution members of the GOP.

Cornyn, during the aboriginal stages of the 2024 Republican statesmanlike information race, had said helium would similar that the GOP instrumentality a caller direction, which angered Trump. But the legislator endorsed Trump successful precocious January of past year, aft the then-former president won some the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the archetypal 2 contests successful the Republican statesmanlike information calendar.

Sen. John Cornyn speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, connected Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Since Trump returned to the White House 3 months ago, Cornyn has been supportive of the president's Cabinet nominees and agenda.

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In the senator's run motorboat video past month, the announcer highlighted that during Trump's archetypal word successful office, "Texas Sen. John Cornyn had his back."

And Cornyn told reporters connected Capitol Hill connected Wednesday that helium had "a 92% voting grounds with President Trump."

"It's unclear to maine precisely what is motivating Mr. Paxton, different than vanity and idiosyncratic ambition, surely it's not going to marque a batch of quality successful presumption of the voting record, due to the fact that I've been a protagonist of President Trump and his agenda," the legislator argued.

Paxton grabbed nationalist attraction successful 2020 for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case successful the Supreme Court that tried to overturn erstwhile President Joe Biden’s razor-thin triumph implicit Trump successful the Keystone State, and for speaking astatine the Trump rally adjacent the White House that instantly preceded the deadly Jan. 6 onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt legislature certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.

During Biden's 4 years successful the White House, Paxton took the medication to tribunal galore times.

While Paxton, who's successful his 3rd four-year word arsenic Texas lawyer general, has agelong been a ineligible warrior successful the MAGA movement, helium besides has plentifulness of idiosyncratic governmental baggage.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton astatine his superior nighttime celebration, connected March 1, 2022, successful McKinney, Texas. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Paxton was indicted connected securities fraud charges soon aft taking bureau successful 2015, and besides came nether probe by the FBI implicit bribery and corruption allegations from erstwhile apical staffers. In 2022, helium survived a bruising superior amid his galore ineligible difficulties.

In 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, but helium was aboriginal acquitted of each charges by the authorities Senate. 

The charges successful the long-running national corruption probe were dropped during the last weeks of the Biden administration. 

While Paxton for years has denied immoderate wrongdoing and has survived his ineligible fights, helium would apt proceed to look pugnacious optics and plentifulness of incoming occurrence implicit his past predicaments during a Senate showdown.

"Paxton has a checkered background. He is simply a con antheral and a fraud and I deliberation the radical of Texas cognize that," Cornyn charged connected Wednesday.

And the legislator added: "This is what volition beryllium litigated during the people of this campaign."

Matt Mackowiak, a seasoned Republican strategist and communications advisor based successful Texas and Washington, D.C., pointed to the bruising intra-party conflict up arsenic helium told Fox News that "this is going to beryllium the astir expensive, nastiest, astir aggressive, astir idiosyncratic U.S. Senate superior successful Texas history."

"You person 2 candidates who are going to rise important funds, who are successful important positions, who bash not similar each different and person not liked each other, whose teams bash not similar each different and the stakes could not beryllium higher," Mackowiak said.

GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the archetypal Trump run bureau successful Pennsylvania, connected June 4, 2024, successful Philadelphia. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Potentially complicating the superior conflict is simply a imaginable Senate bid by blimpish Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston-area district.

The third-term 43-year-old Texas Republican and rising MAGA prima has made his lawsuit to the president's governmental team, sources corroborate to Fox News. Hunt's statement is that he's the lone idiosyncratic who tin triumph some a GOP superior and a wide election, a root acquainted with the discussions confirmed to Fox News.

An extracurricular radical supportive of Hunt is presently spending 7 figures to tally ads crossed the Lone Star State to summation the lawmaker's sanction recognition.

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The eventual victor of adjacent year's GOP superior volition beryllium considered the favourite successful the wide predetermination against whomever the Democrats nominate.

Former Democratic Rep. Colin Allred has said he'll determine by this summertime if he'll equine a 2026 Senate campaign.

Allred, a erstwhile Baylor University shot subordinate and NFL linebacker who aboriginal represented Texas' 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was past year's Democratic challenger successful the contention against Cruz.