PLANO, Texas (AP) — Texas voters won’t catch much of the Republican U.S. Senate hopefuls in person on Monday. However, avoiding television and other screens is another story entirely.
Neither Sen. John Cornyn nor state Attorney General Ken Paxton had any public campaign appearances on their calendars for the closing day of their extended battle lasting more than a year for the GOP nomination. Their competition for Tuesday’s runoff election persists as it has for months — fierce and relentless — through advertisements exceeding $109 million, with the majority coming from Cornyn’s campaign.
Cornyn has planned to host his yearly, non-campaign gathering in San Antonio honoring high school students who will attend the country’s service academies. The incumbent senator pursuing a fifth term conducted his final public campaign appearance in Corpus Christi on Friday, before Tuesday’s election.
Paxton concluded his campaign with events Thursday in the Austin region and San Antonio, choosing to allow his campaign and a super PAC to promote his central campaign theme: President Donald Trump’s endorsement of him on May 19.
Trump’s backing and simultaneous rejection of Cornyn, who has maintained a strained public connection with the president, occurred during the second day of early voting, which concluded Friday.
While both candidates remained out of public view during the weekend, Trump renewed his backing for Paxton on Sunday, while criticizing Cornyn as inadequately faithful to him.
Paxton, Trump wrote on social media, “was also very loyal to your favorite President, ME,” while describing Cornyn as “VERY disloyal to me.” This marked Trump’s harshest criticism of Cornyn, who had questioned his 2024 political comeback prospects, and mirrored the president’s criticism of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy before his defeat in the May 15 GOP Senate primary.
After Trump’s demand for payback, Republican voters in Indiana and Kentucky have similarly selected GOP primary opponents over sitting Republican officials who have opposed the president or his policies.
For an election anticipated to attract only a small portion of Texas’ 18.7 million registered voters, both candidates’ campaigns and allied organizations continued flooding all Texans with advertisements, though Cornyn’s supporters spent more than Paxton’s.
“It’s just a slug fest, with the campaigns and third-party groups slugging it out,” said Wayne Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.
Cornyn’s campaign combined with allied super PACs have significantly outspent pro-Paxton organizations throughout the past year, by nearly nine-to-one. However, this disparity has narrowed as the runoff has drawn closer. During the campaign’s final week, combined pro-Cornyn advertising expenditures were less than double Paxton’s group spending.
Cornyn’s network maintained advertisements targeting Paxton regarding ethical and personal issues that have followed him with minimal impact during the campaign. Cornyn’s campaign also revived an advertisement highlighting his record of supporting Trump’s legislative priorities in the Senate.
Paxton’s campaign and supporting organizations shifted midweek to exclusively running advertisements featuring Trump’s endorsement, although Paxton’s main super PAC, Lone Star Liberty Fund, started broadcasting one during the weekend designed to question state Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee.
