\n But that would amount to a huge gamble for Trump. If no candidate wins an outright majority in the primary, then the top finishers would battle in another expensive clash two months later: A May 26 runoff election.\n <\/p>\n
\n With Hunt in the race, the chances of one candidate winning an outright majority in March are much dimmer.\n <\/p>\n
\n Plus, there\u2019s real fear that the candidates would be badly battered through months of a grueling primary and runoff \u2013 and could give Democrats a shot to pull off an upset in Texas, something the party hasn\u2019t done in a statewide race since 1994. And Democrats are salivating at the prospect of facing Paxton, who has weathered scandals in the state including an impeachment effort just two years ago.\n <\/p>\n
\n Cornyn warns that the additional months of a campaign would siphon away tens of millions of dollars that could be spent in other states Republicans must win in order to keep the majority.\n <\/p>\n
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\n \u201cHe can\u2019t win, so this could well be the end of his political career if he decides to make this race, and he may be thinking about that,\u201d Cornyn told CNN, referring to Hunt\u2019s decision to run for his seat.\n <\/p>\n
\n Hunt, for his part, brushed off his opponent\u2019s criticism. \u201cI have survived combat. I flew 55 combat air missions in Baghdad. The end of my political career \u2013 I\u2019m still alive and well.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n And, Hunt added, \u201cat the end of the day, I am not going to be a 30-year guy that\u2019s hung around the hoop for this long and not pass the mantle on to somebody else when it\u2019s time for you to go.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe United States Senate is not a retirement community,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n The increasingly nasty barbs between Hunt and Cornyn have created an unusual dynamic in the three-man race. Paxton \u2014 who remains in a virtual tie with Cornyn in a recent poll<\/a> \u2014 has largely stayed on the sidelines while Hunt and Cornyn largely begin to pummel each other. Paxton has spent only $1 million on the race through September 30, compared to Cornyn\u2019s $3.5 million and Hunt\u2019s $2.3 million, according to fundraising data filed for the most recent quarter.\n <\/p>\n \n And Hunt sidestepped criticisms of Paxton, who has made headlines over issues like a messy divorce and for reportedly claiming three houses as his primary mortgage.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI\u2019m not getting in people\u2019s personal lives because that\u2019s just not how I roll,\u201d Hunt said when asked about Paxton.\n <\/p>\n \n Paxton declined an interview with CNN through a spokesman.\n <\/p>\n \n The stakes of the Senate battle are high, with GOP leaders planning to spend as much as it takes to back Cornyn through both a primary and a runoff, according to multiple people familiar with the internal discussions.\n <\/p>\n \n Pro-Cornyn groups have dominated the air waves so far: Cornyn-aligned outside groups have spent roughly $40 million out of the $52.5 million total spent on ads in the GOP primary as of last week, according to figures compiled by the ad-tracking service AdImpact.\n <\/p>\n \n Many Cornyn allies are furious at Hunt\u2019s refusal to bow out, arguing that money spent to boost Cornyn so far could be much better spent in battleground contests like North Carolina or Michigan in a midterm environment that\u2019s likely to favor Democrats. For Democrats to win the Senate, they\u2019ll need to pick up four seats, meaning they\u2019ll have to hold every one of their own seats while picking up at least two in red states \u2013 with one of them potentially Texas, where they have their own messy primary to navigate.\n <\/p>\n \n One Cornyn supporter involved in the race said their allies see Hunt as a \u201cspoiler\u201d adding unnecessary stressors to the race. The person added that Hunt has been told repeatedly, \u201cincluding by very senior Republicans,\u201d to bow out of the race because, they say, he has no path to victory.\n <\/p>\n \n But Hunt says that communication has never come from inside Trump\u2019s orbit. Pressed on whether he has ever been discouraged from running by someone in the White House, Hunt said: \u201cNobody has told me a word.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Trump remains the biggest factor in the race.\n <\/p>\n \n Behind the scenes, Cornyn and top GOP Senate leaders have stepped up efforts in recent weeks to win over Trump and convince him to endorse as soon as possible. At a recent breakfast at the White House, Cornyn and Thune again made the case to Trump that he has closed the gap in polling after initial polls showed the incumbent senator trailing Paxton by wide margins<\/a> in the primary, according to multiple people familiar with the exchange.\n <\/p>\n \n During his last conversation with Trump, Cornyn echoed what GOP leaders have also stressed to Trump: it could save a lot of money for other key races.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019ll spend a lot of money that could be spent more productively elsewhere,\u201d Cornyn said, when asked about his message to the president. \u201cIf I\u2019m at the top of the ticket in November, chances are that it will help down ballot races including these congressional seats that are now in litigation. So I think it\u2019s in the president\u2019s best interest, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve explained to him.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s not Cornyn\u2019s only overture to the president. He also recently made a huge break in his own long-time stance on eliminating the filibuster to align more closely with Trump\u2019s views. Cornyn, so far, has made the most outward efforts to secure that Trump endorsement, with weeks of flattering tweets and shifting of some positions that have caught the attention of many Trump\u2019s allies.\n <\/p>\n \n Thune and the Senate campaign chief, Sen. Tim Scott, have also repeatedly made Cornyn\u2019s case to Trump, according to people familiar with the discussions. And Thune has personally helped with Cornyn\u2019s fundraising operation, traveling to Texas last week and phoning donors to secure more support, another person said.\n <\/p>\n \n Multiple people close to Paxton, however, believe he is in the strongest position for Trump\u2019s endorsement, if, or when, the president decides to choose a side.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt ends the race for us the moment it comes out. But him staying out of the race is good for us too. And it\u2019s pretty fatal for Cornyn,\u201d one person close to Paxton told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Allies of both Hunt and Paxton told CNN that their campaigns are keeping in close touch with the White House. Both campaigns are regularly sending internal polling to Trump\u2019s advisers, according to multiple people familiar with the outreach. This summer, Paxton even flew to Scotland for a brief interaction with Trump at his new golf course, as CNN previously reported.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe\u2019s following the polling very closely,\u201d Cornyn said of Trump, after speaking with the president in late October about the race.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI just confirmed what he already knew, which is that we were now essentially in a tie with Paxton. And now with Wesley Hunt in the race, he\u2019s looking for us to continue the trend and to show that we\u2019re likely going to be the winner in the primary,\u201d Cornyn said. \u201cAs he and I have discussed, if he were to make an endorsement, the primary would be over. But he\u2019s not ready to do that yet.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Asked if he would drop out of the race if Trump endorsed Cornyn, Hunt made clear he wasn\u2019t going anywhere.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cDonald John Trump\u2019s endorsement is absolutely incredible in any Republican primary in this great nation, but I\u2019m sorry you cannot revive that dead campaign,\u201d Hunt said of Cornyn\u2019s bid. \u201cNot even Donald Trump can do that, in my humble opinion. So that\u2019s why I got in this race, to give him an option.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Hunt and Paxton have both sharply criticized Cornyn for his complicated relationship with Trump. The GOP incumbent has rarely broken with Trump on a key vote and \u2014 as the former Senate GOP whip \u2014 helped pass Trump\u2019s marquee tax cuts bill during his first term.\n <\/p>\n![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/gettyimages-2236496126.jpg\")
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