Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has officially announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, confirming The Dallas Express’s earlier report that he was poised to challenge incumbent Senator John Cornyn for Texas’s U.S. Senate seat in the 2026 Republican primary.
Paxton’s campaign launch, detailed in a public statement released on April 8, 2025, sets the stage for a heated GOP showdown, with the Attorney General positioning himself as a staunch defender of former President Donald Trump’s America First agenda.
Paxton’s announcement emphasizes his intent to confront the Washington establishment, specifically targeting Cornyn’s long tenure and perceived disloyalty to Trump.
“I’m running for U.S. Senate to fight for President Trump’s agenda and take a sledgehammer to the D.C. establishment,” Paxton declared, highlighting his frustration with Cornyn’s record. Paxton pointed to Cornyn’s past statements, such as calling Trump’s border wall “naive” in 2016, as reported by ABC News, and his suggestion that Trump’s “time has passed him by,” as evidence of the senator’s disconnect from Texas conservatives.
The Attorney General’s campaign comes on the heels of a Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll, which found Paxton leading Cornyn by 25 points among likely GOP primary voters—a result also covered by the New York Times.
Paxton has capitalized on Cornyn’s unpopularity among Republican voters, criticizing the senator for opposing Trump’s agenda, including condemning House GOP efforts to investigate Soros-backed DA Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Trump.
Paxton also highlighted Cornyn’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference, as reported by The Dallas Express, accusing him of pushing a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine at the expense of domestic priorities.
Paxton’s entry into the race marks a significant escalation in the battle for the Texas GOP’s future, pitting his self-described “battle-tested” conservative record against Cornyn’s establishment credentials.
As a four-term senator and former Senate Majority Whip, Cornyn has already kicked off his re-election campaign, but Paxton’s Trump-aligned platform and strong polling position him as a formidable challenger.
Political analysts expect a bruising primary that will test the party’s direction, with Paxton leveraging his record as Attorney General to appeal to voters frustrated with the status quo.
Stay tuned to The Dallas Express for continued coverage of this developing story. With Paxton’s campaign now officially underway, the 2026 GOP primary promises to be one of the most contentious in Texas history.