WATCH: Embattled GOP senator warns red state ‘at risk’ of historic Dem victory as voters head to polls
As voters head to the polls today in Texas, GOP Sen. John Cornyn is warning the longtime red state is "at risk" of Democrats pulling off a historic upset for a critical Senate seat.
Cornyn’s primary race against challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton finally comes to a head in today’s runoff election. After what has been a particularly bruising primary, Cornyn expressed his worry that Republicans stand to lose a seat that would be devastating for the party’s hopes of retaining a majority in the upper chamber.
Speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of Election Day, Cornyn touted Texas as "the most conservatively governed state in the country," making it a "land of opportunity and where the American dream is still very much alive."
"But I think all of that's at risk, depending on how this primary runoff turns out, because I think Ken Paxton's flaws and the baggage he brings to the general election are going to be exploited up to the fullest by James Talarico and by Democrats," he said.
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Whoever emerges Tuesday night will have to face state Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic rising star who many in the party believe has broad enough appeal to finally flip the state for the first time in over two decades.
Cornyn expressed worry about Talarico’s fundraising abilities, citing the $27 million he raised in the first quarter of the year. He asserted that if Paxton wins, "there will be a tsunami of money coming into the state from outside."
He also asserted that "it's not only that Senate seat he [Paxton] puts at risk, it's also all the down-ballot races, state legislative races, local races, like the judges and the like."
"We haven't elected a Democrat in statewide office since 1994 in Texas," he said. "President Trump is not running, so the Senate race will be at the top, and I believe that I will be in a better position to help provide a significant margin, a winning margin, not only in my case, but also to help everybody down ballot."
"I don't think the attorney general can do that because of the significant baggage he brings into the race, which jeopardizes success from the top to the bottom," he said.
Paxton has faced a slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered him over the past decade. In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton, but he was eventually acquitted of all charges by the state Senate.
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The attorney general is also dealing with a very messy divorce, with his wife citing "biblical grounds" based on "recent discoveries" in filing last year to end their marriage.
Despite this and Cornyn’s status as a longtime fixture of the Republican Party, it is Paxton who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
"Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate," Trump wrote in a social media post.
Trump said, "John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough." Pointing to the senator's past criticism of him, Trump added, "John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency."
Cornyn, in turn, emphasized his support for the president and his agenda, telling Fox News Digital, "President Trump has called me a friend and a good man, and we've worked with him closely for both terms of office."
Paxton, who grabbed significant national attention the past dozen years by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, disagreed.
"John Cornyn fought Trump on the border. And you can go back over about a decade and see that he was not for the border wall," Paxton charged in an interview on Fox News' "The Big Weekend Show."
Paxton also argued that the senator "fought the president's reelection. He fought him in 2024, said his time had passed, and he fought him in 2016. So, this is not a pro-Trump guy. I don't know if we could be more different on the Republican issues than John Cornyn and me. So, there is a vast difference between the two of us."
Cornyn pushed back.
"I don't know how much more with him I could be than 99.3% of the time," the senator told Fox News Digital.
"I want him to be successful. I want America to be successful, and I want Republicans to be successful. But you know, in the end, as I said, Texans are the only ones going to be able to make a choice, and I think Texans can be pretty independent," Cornyn added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico for comment.