Sen. John Cornyn speaks at a Feb. 18 campaign event in Fort Worth. He’s running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Eleanor Dearman
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican trying to keep his seat in a heated primary election, warned of a blue Texas if Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wins the March 3 race.
Early voting started Tuesday, and U.S. Senate candidates are sweeping through North Texas as they try to turn out voters. A few dozen people gathered at the Fort Worth Police Association on Wednesday afternoon to hear from Cornyn, whose leading Republican primary opponents include Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Houston Republican.
“It makes a difference who is at the top of the ballot, because if Ken Paxton is the nominee, we could well experience a massacre and the first Democrat elected since 1994 in the state of Texas,” Cornyn said.
Democratic Senate primary candidates include Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, and state Rep. James Talarico, who represents the Austin area.
Tarrant County recently saw a historically Republican state Senate seat won by a Democrat in a special election runoff. On the first day of early voting, the number of Democratic primary voters surpassed GOP primary voters.
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“I think Democrats are energized,” Cornyn told reporters at the campaign event, adding, that “they’ve got full blown Trump derangement syndrome” and an active base that turns out to vote. He encouraged Republicans to turn out and vote.
The Senate candidates have exchanged barbs on the campaign trail, and Cornyn spent part of his time in Fort Worth working to distinguish himself from the embattled Texas attorney general.
Cornyn boasted about trust and relationships he’s built during his more than two decades in Washington.
“Now, I believe that character still matters to the people of Texas,” Cornyn said. “I’m betting character still matters. Ken Paxton is betting that character doesn’t matter.”
From allegations of infidelity to his impeachment in 2023 for allegedly misusing his office to benefit a donor, Paxton has been the subject of scrutiny while in office. He was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, U.S. Rep. Craig Goldman, a Fort Worth Republican, and law enforcement association leaders joined Cornyn at the campaign event, as he pitched himself as a better pick for Republican voters. Also attending was former State Board of Education member Pat Hardy and state Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican.
Parker, who has endorsed Cornyn’s bid, called the senator a “friend of Fort Worth” and described him as a “serious person.” She and Goldman praised him as a respected member of Congress.
“I can tell you, my first year in the U.S. Congress, no one has more respect in that capital, U.S. Capitol building, than Senator John Cornyn,” Goldman said.
Law enforcement speakers highlighted Cornyn’s work in Congress to support public safety. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an activist and former Dutch parliament member, spoke against Islam and offered her support to the senator.
Cornyn said he’d rather be a “work horse” than a “show horse.”
He is the latest Republican U.S. Senate candidate to make stops in North Texas ahead of the March 3. primary. Early voting began Tuesday and runs through Feb. 27.
Hunt visited Fort Worth on Sunday, and Paxton was in Allen on Tuesday, where he blasted the incumbent senator during a campaign speech at Matt’s Rancho Martinez and predicted that Cornyn may not advance to a runoff.
A poll from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston put Paxton 7 points ahead of Cornyn with 38% of votes. Hunt placed third with 17% of votes, according to the poll of likely primary voters.
“He has adopted the Washington mentality, the Washington swamp, and he is not one of us,” Paxton said of Cornyn.
The three leading primary contenders have sparred over their support for President Donald Trump, each seeking to link themselves to the president.
Cornyn ultimately endorsed Trump in his 2016 and 2024 elections, but has also said that Trump could be an “albatross” for Republican races during his first campaign and that “Trump’s time has passed him by” before endorsing him for his second term.
Trump hasn’t endorsed in the race, but has spoken positively of the three leading candidates.
“I sort of get it,” Cornyn told reporters during the Wednesday campaign event. “As an incumbent office holder, when people ask me to endorse in a contested primary, they’re usually asking me to disappoint about half of my supporters.”
It remains to be seen if or when Trump wades in.
“In the meantime, we’re not waiting around, and we’re making the case and doing the best we can … to earn the support of voters, and put my record out there, and put my likeability out there in terms of its comparison to that of the attorney general, who I think would be an unmitigated disaster if he’s the nominee in November,” Cornyn said.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 4:38 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
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