Scoop: New anti-Cornyn ad has audience of 1 — Trump
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A frame from a new ad by a group supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his upcoming race against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) links Cornyn to former President Biden. Image: Courtesy Preserving Texas
A group backing Texas Sen. John Cornyn's 2026 primary opponent is out with its first TV ad — but it's not airing in Texas. Instead, it's airing in Palm Beach, Fla., where it's aimed at an audience of one: President Trump.
Why it matters: The strategy behind the ad shows the battle for Trump's coveted endorsement has already begun between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Cornyn.
- It's expected to be one of most expensive and bitterly contested Senate races next year, and has led Senate GOP leaders to close ranks behind Cornyn, a prolific fundraiser.
Zoom in: Preserving Texas, the group backing Paxton, will air the ad over the weekend on Trump-friendly Fox News, Newsmax and the Golf Channel in Palm Beach, home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
- The ad assails Cornyn for backing a bipartisan gun safety bill in June 2022, and highlights Trump's ensuing criticism of Cornyn as a "RINO," or Republican In Name Only.
- "As usual, President Trump was right," the ad says.
- Preserving Texas is spending about $60,000 to air the ad over two days, according to a person familiar with the buy.
Zoom out: Cornyn, 73, is a four-term senator and former Texas Supreme Court justice whom Trump has criticized for not going along with Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
- But recently Cornyn has taken steps to show he's aligned with Trump's MAGA movement — including by posting a picture of himself reading Trump's "The Art of the Deal."
- Those close to the senator say he has smoothed over past tensions with Trump.
Paxton, 62, is a longtime Trump ally and MAGA loyalist. He worked to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss and attended Trump's 2024 hush money trial in New York to show solidarity with him.
- Paxton is a controversial figure in Texas politics. He was indicted in 2015 on security fraud charges, which were dropped later.
- He also was impeached by the state House of Representatives in 2023 on bribery and corruption charges, but was acquitted by the state Senate.
The intrigue: Trump is a cable news junkie, and Republican candidates and interest groups are known to run ads in South Florida with an eye toward influencing him.
- In 2020, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie aired a commercial in Palm Beach in which he called his primary opponent a "Trump hater."
The other side: "Corrupt Ken Paxton ordered up another mediocre campaign video that predictably lies about Senator Cornyn's long career of strongly supporting Second Amendment Rights," a Cornyn spokesperson told Axios.
- "As an avid hunter himself, Senator Cornyn supports the constitutional right to carry and always has."
