AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican Senate runoff, backing him over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn ahead of the May 26 election.
Trump announced his decision in on Truth Social, calling Paxton “a true MAGA Warrior.”
“Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote.
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Paxton responded on X, saying he is “incredibly honored” to have Trump’s endorsement.
“No one has ever fought harder for the American people than President Trump, and I look forward to championing his America First agenda in the Senate,” Paxton said.
Trump acknowledged Cornyn, saying he is “a good man” and that the two had worked well together, but said Cornyn was slow to support him during his 2024 presidential campaign.
“He was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump wrote of Cornyn.
Cornyn said he has worked closely with Trump through both of his Presidential terms and voted with him “more than 99% of the time.”
“He has consistently called me a friend in this race,” Cornyn said. “It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about.”
Earlier Tuesday, Trump had signaled the endorsement was coming.
“I am going to be making an endorsement today in Texas,” Trump said during a public appearance in Washington, D.C. “I hope you find it good.”
Trump also suggested his endorsement would be decisive.
“There are those that say whoever I endorse is going to win. I don’t know if that is true, but historically it is absolutely true,” he said. “I just don’t like to say it because I don’t like to brag.”
The announcement comes two months after Trump first signaled a pick was imminent following the March 3 primary, in which Cornyn narrowly edged Paxton by roughly one percentage point. Early voting in the May 26 runoff began May 18.
Trump previously said he would ask whichever candidate he does not endorse to immediately drop out of the race.
The eventual Republican nominee will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the general election. In a statement, Talarico said it “doesn’t matter who wins this runoff.”
“We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system. For decades, John Cornyn and Ken Paxton have embodied a broken politics that enriches wealthy donors while costs skyrocket for the rest of us. Our movement to take back Texas for working people rises above party politics — because the biggest fight in this country is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom,” Talarico said.