Trump's Texas Senate Endorsement Is All About the Money

"Senate Majority Leader John Thune urged President Donald Trump on Wednesday to deliver a swift endorsement of Texas Sen. John Cornyn to potentially forestall what is widely expected to be an expensive and nasty primary runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. '[If] Trump endorses early, it saves everybody a lot of money, and ... 10 weeks of a spirited campaign on our side that keeps us from spending time focusing on the Democrats,' Thune said."

"The reality is that national and Texas GOP donors spent an estimated $70 million on Cornyn's primary campaign - more than ten times the money Paxton had available - but could not lift him to the nomination without a runoff. Yes, Cornyn's backers are trying to make a big deal out of Cornyn finishing narrowly ahead of his hated rival in the first round, which was marginally surprising until you look at the incumbent's virtually unopposed late ad blitz."

"It's important to remember that the runoff dynamics favor Paxton. The electorate in a runoff is smaller and much more conservative. It's the hard-core a"

Following Texas's U.S. Senate primary results, Republican leadership panicked over the prospect of a costly runoff between incumbent John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Despite $70 million in donor spending, Cornyn failed to secure an outright nomination victory. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other GOP powers appealed to Donald Trump for an early endorsement of Cornyn, arguing it would save money and prevent a prolonged internal battle. The underlying concern centered on financial costs rather than electability claims. Runoff dynamics favor Paxton, as the smaller, more conservative electorate typical of such contests aligns with his base support.

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