{"id":297032,"date":"2026-05-17T11:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T11:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/297032\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T11:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T11:47:08","slug":"texas-senate-gop-runoff-intensifies-into-brutal-personal-ad-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/297032\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Senate GOP runoff intensifies into brutal, personal ad war"},"content":{"rendered":"

The contest has become the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history, with more than $120 million spent on advertising by all candidates and allied groups. The winner of the May 26 runoff faces Democrat James Talarico<\/a> in November. \u00a0<\/p>\n

That spending surge has intensified an already bitter ad war between the two Republicans. Here are some of the sharpest hits:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burner phones: Released before Mother\u2019s Day, the ad accuses Paxton of cheating on his wife and hiding affairs behind aliases and burner phones. The spot uses images of hotel rooms, lingerie and rapidly decaying flowers to mount a character attack aimed at evangelical and suburban voters.<\/p>\n

Voice of God:\u00a0One of Cornyn\u2019s most biting ads<\/a> uses religious imagery and the Ten Commandments to frame Paxton as ethically rotten. It runs through years of personal and professional allegations against\u00a0Paxton, invoking biblical admonitions not to steal, commit adultery or bear false witness. The ad concludes with a deep voice from beyond commanding voters: \u201cDefeat the crook.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Love Shack: Another Cornyn ad mocks Paxton\u2019s personal conduct by portraying him in a kitschy parody<\/a> of the B-52s’ \u201cLove Shack,\u201d including AI-generated imagery of a Paxton-like figure partying with women. It portrays Paxton as a tabloid figure consumed by personal chaos, hypocrisy and moral recklessness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dance partners: The Paxton ad<\/a> draws inspiration from Cornyn saying in 2024 he had offered to be a \u201cdance partner\u201d for Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas on an anti-drug bill. The ad shows an AI-generated video of Cornyn and Crockett lookalikes dancing together, suggesting the senator has become too cozy with liberals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spring break: The ad, first dropped during the Easter congressional recess<\/a>, depicts a fake Cornyn relaxing on the beach and enjoying a water park. It accuses him of going on vacation rather than working on Trump\u2019s priorities, such as passing tougher voter ID requirements. The ad mirrors criticism of\u00a0Cornyn as not fully dedicated to Trump\u2019s agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Old guard: The Paxton ad shows a decades-long time lapse<\/a> of Cornyn that starts in 1984 when he was first elected to public office as a state district judge in\u00a0Bexar County. It asks viewers whether they can name a single thing he\u2019s done for them during his time as a public official and quotes Trump criticisms of Cornyn. The spot portrays Cornyn as washed up and disconnected from conservative causes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The contest has become the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history, with more than $120 million spent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-297032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}