Cornyn taps LaCivita for super PAC in Texas GOP Senate primary
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Chris LaCivita deplanes in Wisconsin during the 2024 campaign. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Texas Sen. John Cornyn has enlisted Chris LaCivita, a top political adviser to President Trump, to help him beat back a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Why it matters: LaCivita's involvement doesn't guarantee an endorsement from Trump in what is expected to be the GOP's most expensive Senate primary. But it does show how Cornyn, long regarded as more country club than MAGA, is moving to align himself with the president.
- A recent poll commissioned by the Senate Leadership Fund, the main GOP leadership super PAC, showed Cornyn down double digits to Paxton.
- But even before that poll was out, Cornyn was making moves to bolster his Trump bona fides and boasted about his 99% voting record with Trump. Paxton, meanwhile, is accusing Cornyn of being a faux Trumper.
Driving the news: LaCivita is joining Texans for a Conservative Majority, a super PAC supporting Cornyn's reelection bid, as a senior adviser, Axios has learned.
- Cornyn has also tapped Tony Fabrizio, another senior Trump strategist, to work on his campaign.
The intrigue: The contest between Cornyn and Paxton fight is shaping up as a rematch of the 2024 primary battle pitting Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
- Paxton has hired Axiom, a prominent Republican consulting firm, to guide his campaign.
- Trumpworld has developed a disdain for Axiom and its leader, Jeff Roe, for its work on behalf of DeSantis.
- Trump has savaged Roe in private, and LaCivita and Fabrizio seem to enjoy going after the strategist in public.
- Roe himself is not involved in the race, though others involved in the firm are, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.
Zoom in: Texans for a Conservative Majority has also tapped Aaron Whitehead as executive director, Mike Shields to oversee its media efforts, and Erik Iverson as its pollster.
- LaCivita is also advising former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate.
What they're saying: "I couldn't be more proud of the first-class team that we've built to vigorously execute an outside effort to support Sen. Cornyn's re-election," Whitehead said in a statement.
