Ken Paxton's Campaign May Have Been Saved by a Staffer's Joke

Donald Trump issued a last-minute endorsement in the GOP Texas Senate primary, backing Ken Paxton and likely determining the outcome against incumbent John Cornyn. Paxton was not surprised, saying he received a call from Trump on Tuesday morning. Trump told Paxton he would do something and that Paxton would like it, with a planned 12:30 p.m. announcement. Campaign concerns included whether Trump might endorse both Paxton and Cornyn, similar to a prior 2022 primary where Trump endorsed only one candidate. The endorsement ended a months-long will-he-or-won’t-he drama. A potential turning point came after Paxton placed second in the March 3 first round, prompting his team to consider responses to a possible Trump endorsement of Cornyn.

"Most political observers were surprised, figuring that the moment for Trump to intervene in the race had passed. Paxton wasn't surprised, though. According to a source familiar with their conversation, the candidate got a call from Trump on Tuesday morning. The president played coy with Paxton, telling him, "I'm gonna do something and you're gonna like it" in a planned 12:30 p.m. announcement."

"There was anxiety within the campaign about whether the president might be offering a dual endorsement of him and Cornyn, as Trump infamously did in a 2022 Senate primary between former Missouri governor Eric Greitens and then-state attorney general Eric Schmitt. (Trump simply endorsed "Eric.") Paxton dismissed those fears. "Based on that conversation, I'm very certain it's me," he said."

"It was the end of a will-he-or-won't-he drama that had dragged on for months. In retrospect, a turning point in the saga - one that potentially saved Paxton's candidacy and doomed Cornyn's - had come about when a Paxton campaign staffer threw out a wild idea. The first round of voting in the GOP primary, which took place on March 3, yielded an unpleasant and surprising result for Paxton: Despite being expected to win, he ended up placing second, nearly two points behind Cornyn."

"Suddenly, his scandal-ridden populist candidacy was in jeopardy and there was a window for Trump to throw his support behind the incumbent. As the disappointing round-one results came in, Paxton's team floated ideas about how to counter a potential Trump endorsement of Cornyn. Someone half-seriously suggested Paxton could offer to drop out - but if, and only if, Cornyn and Senate Republicans agreed to blow up the filibuster in order to pass the SAVE America Act, a bi"

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