DAVID MARCUS: Ken Paxton devours John Cornyn as Texas GOP craves a fighter in Senate primary showdown

There is simply a country successful "The Godfather" erstwhile Michael Corleone tells his puerility person Tom Hagan that helium volition beryllium retired of enactment during the film’s mob war, saying, "You’re not a wartime consigliere, Tom. Things mightiness get unsmooth with the moves we are trying." That enactment echoes what galore Texas GOP voters are saying astir Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

I met Tim for luncheon astatine Pegasus Plaza successful downtown Dallas conscionable 3 days earlier Cornyn’s Tuesday matchup against Attorney General Ken Paxton, and helium told me, "I similar Cornyn. He’s a bully guy, but Trump needs fighters successful D.C."

Tim is successful his 30s, works successful banking, and went connected to say, "Cornyn conscionable seems to beryllium from a antithetic time. Maybe it was a amended time, but it’s not now."

Another Texan backing Paxton I met was Patti, who is retired and told me, "Cornyn is large if the different broadside is playing fair, but they aren’t."

What Cornyn, who is down successful the polls but inactive wrong scope of victory, whitethorn beryllium realizing is that determination is simply a governmental terms to wage for moving connected electability — that erstwhile an electorate is angry, affability is not an asset.

Ads are presently moving successful the Lone Star State urging senators to interruption the filibuster to walk the SAVE Act, which requires elector ID successful American elections. Every idiosyncratic I talked to, including Democrats, told maine they thought Paxton would bash it and Cornyn wouldn’t.

Not conscionable successful Texas but astir the country, I perceive tremendous vexation from Republican voters astir senators similar Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, John Barrasso and adjacent Majority Leader John Thune for bringing a whack-a-mole hammer to a gunfight.

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As 1 antheral quipped to maine this weekend, "Trump has capable Democrats who hatred him to fight. He doesn’t request Republicans to fight, too."

Cornyn appears to beryllium waiting retired Trump’s word successful office, assured that the benignant of GOP helium came up successful volition reappear erstwhile Trump is retired of its orbit, nary longer pulled by his governmental gravity.

But with JD Vance holding a commanding pb successful the — albeit precise aboriginal — 2028 GOP statesmanlike superior polls, Cornyn’s tendency to instrumentality the enactment to its lovable-loser status, successful which legislature Democrats regularly rotation them, seems distant astatine best.

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Cornyn belongs to a governmental property successful which the astir captious occupation of Republicans was to clasp the presumption quo connected home and adjacent overseas argumentation against the emerging radicalism of the Democrats. But his defensive, Maginot Line-style attack is not landing today.

In Trump, Republican voters recovered a chaos cause — 1 who would play discourtesy against the near and, frankly, interruption a fewer things on the way.

 Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, walks done the halls of the U.S. Capitol connected February 12, 2026, successful Washington, D.C. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Take overseas policy. Trump’s presumption of the neoliberal satellite bid was that the U.S. paid to support everyone, accepted atrocious commercialized deals to support stableness and asked others to pb — each portion apologizing for being successful charge. He is present blowing up that model.

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Paxton has shown a willingness to person the president’s backmost connected everything from tariffs to warfare to "Making America Healthy Again." Could that beryllium criticized arsenic moving arsenic a rubber stamp for Trump? Sure. But that is precisely what galore voters want.

As for Paxton’s scandals, which his opponents reason negatively interaction his electability successful the wide predetermination against either Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, oregon her "Beto 2.0" challenger, James Talarico, I spot small grounds of that.

Several voters I spoke to were not adjacent alert of Paxton’s idiosyncratic beingness issues and brushed disconnected his alleged corruption. But what they did cognize astir were his accomplishments arsenic a tough-as-nails lawyer general.

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Even 1 Democrat I spoke with, a Talarico voter, praised Paxton’s enactment cracking down connected H-1B visa "ghost offices" that are allegedly committing millions of dollars of fraud against the American people.

One anticipation for John Cornyn is that mean voters mightiness beryllium quieter voters, little apt to talk with maine oregon adjacent reply polls. But with immoderate frequency, alleged soundless majorities crook into electoral losses.

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Almost cipher I spoke with disliked Cornyn. There were a fewer who spoke much similar an X provender than a quality being, but successful general, the consciousness was that helium is simply a bully antheral — but not the close antheral to spell to the mattresses with Trump against the left.

In the end, successful "The Godfather," Michael made the close determination by demoting Tom. He needed loyal fighters, not a astute antheral who could fig retired however to delight each sides. Now it is up to Texas Republicans to determine who their wartime consigliere volition be. From what I tin see, it is precise apt to beryllium Ken Paxton.

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