MAGA Allies Laying Groundwork For Bitter Texas Primary to Unseat Longtime Republican Senator

Two MAGA allies are set to face each other in next year's midterms as they seek to secure a U.S. Senate seat for Texas. Concretely, state Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he will seek to unseat incumbent John Cornyn

Axios described the upcoming clash as an "early proxy war between the establishment and Trump wings of the party." While Cornyn is a staunch supporter of the president, some MAGA figures have expressed skepticism about him over stances like his support for arming Ukraine and a bipartisan gun reform bill.

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon told the outlet he plans to host Paxton on his "War Room" podcast and cover the race "a ton." In turn, he has called Cornyn the "epitome of the establishment."

Cornyn, in turn, has been touting his support for Trump, with a campaign spokesperson noting that the senator "voted with President Trump more than 95% of current Senators" during his first term.

"This will be a spirited campaign, and we assure Texans they will have a real choice when this race is over," the spokesperson added. He also heated the conversation calling Paxton a "fraud."

Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives in 2023 on corruption charges, but was later acquitted in the state Senate. The next year he reached a deal that included a $300,000 payment in restitution to avoid a securities fraud trial stemming from a 2015 indictment on three felony charges. He had pleaded not guilty, NBC News recalled.

Paxton, on his end, is being highly critical of Cornyn, telling MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk that the senator is "going to be a good boy for the next year and a half, and then he'll go back to being what he is, which is a moderate."

"It's definitely time for a change in Texas," Paxton added when announcing his candidacy in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham. "We have another great U.S. senator, Ted Cruz, and it's time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Trump in the areas that he's focused on a significant way," he said.

On the Democratic side, only former Rep. Colin Allred has jumped into the race. Allred, a former NFL player, drew national attention last year when he sought to unseat Cruz. Polls showed him with a shot shortly before the race, but Cruz ended up winning by nearly 9 percentage points.