Things are getting spicy down in Texas, friends, as the state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, looks to knock off incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the upcoming GOP Senate primary. GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt (TX-38) is also in the race to unseat Cornyn, who is vying for a sixth term, but is polling in third place.
So, it seems the main showdown (hoedown?) will almost definitely be Paxton vs. Cornyn.
With early voting in the primary beginning next month, Paxton has come out swinging in his first campaign video – an AI-generated one at that – and he's taking Cornyn to task for apparently being friendly with Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), who's running in the Democrat Senate primary. Paxton claims in the video of the supposedly cozy Cornyn-Crockett relationship, "Publicly, they're opponents. Privately, they're in perfect step."
The Democrats' Irrational Exuberance in the U.S. Senate
The video begins with footage of Crockett praising Cornyn for "actually being very helpful to me," then proceeds to show AI likenesses of Cornyn and Crockett boot-scootin' and swinging in perfect harmony. In other words, Cornyn could be perceived as "dancing with the devil" due to his relationship with Crockett.
Here's how the media is framing the video:
The ad centers on past remarks by U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett praising Cornyn’s bipartisan cooperation, a theme Paxton’s campaign is using to frame the incumbent senator’s record as increasingly aligned with cross-party dealmaking. The release comes as Cornyn’s Republican challengers have publicly criticized him for declining to participate in debates.
And here's the video itself:
NEW AD: John Cornyn has been dancing the night way with liberal lunatics like Jasmine Crockett and selling us out every step of the way.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) January 16, 2026
That’s why he called Crockett his “dance partner” and she said Cornyn was her “best partner” in the Senate. pic.twitter.com/b2LeuBfRYX
The shot by Paxton was made just as pressure builds on Cornyn to debate his Republican challengers in the lead-up to primary voting.
The ad’s release coincides with renewed scrutiny from Cornyn’s GOP opponents over his decision not to engage in debates with Republican challengers. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Cornyn declined multiple debate invitations — including a candidate forum hosted by The Dallas Express and co-sponsored by both Dallas and Tarrant County Republican Parties as well as many prominent conservative clubs, including Dallas County Young Republicans, Park Cities Republican Women, American Jewish Conservatives, and others — while both Paxton and Congressman Wesley Hunt publicly pressed for public debates.
And Paxton's pressure campaign may be working. As RedState reported Thursday, new polling from Emerson College shows Paxton leading Cornyn by one point in the primary matchup, with Hunt in third place and a full 29 percent of likely voters still undecided. Interestingly, in hypothetical general election matchups with Democrat primary candidates Crockett and James Talarico, the polling indicates Paxton would be in a dead heat with the Dems while Cornyn would win by three or more percentage points.
President Trump reportedly has no plans to endorse a candidate in the Texas GOP Senate primary, but Cornyn has been getting support from other big guns. The Senate Leadership Fund has already spent "tens of millions" of dollars on behalf of Cornyn, with "a lot more" still to come.
The Texas primary will be held on March 3, with early voting starting February 17.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
Help us continue to expose their left-wing bias by reading news you can trust. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member