Overview
- Sen. John Cornyn and allies plan roughly $10 million in late spending over the next four weeks to position for a likely May 26 runoff against Ken Paxton or Wesley Hunt.
- Republican groups have already poured about $65 million into TV ads, with Cornyn-aligned spending around $50 million since last summer, according to AdImpact and multiple reports.
- NRSC briefed Republicans that Cornyn would be well positioned in a general election, while getting Paxton through November could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
- President Trump says he is giving an endorsement in the race a very serious look as Senate leaders warn that a Paxton nomination could drain resources from other battlegrounds.
- A recent Democratic flip of a Fort Worth–area state senate seat that Trump carried by 17 points has intensified electability concerns, even as polling shows Paxton more popular with GOP voters but highly unpopular overall.