Political fight between Ken Paxton, John Cornyn fueled by released opinion

AUSTIN, Texas - An opinion released on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is now fueling a political fight between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Senator John Cornyn ahead of the race for U.S. Senate.

The opinion throws a jab at Senator John Cornyn going back more than two decades.

Political experts say the move is to bolster more votes in the Senate primary.

What they're saying:

On Monday, Attorney General Ken Paxton released what he calls the first of its kind legal opinion declaring diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs unconstitutional.

"Over the course of the past few years, we've seen a lot of pushbacks by Texas Republicans against DEI initiatives, both in the private sector, and in state government and universities and public schools," said Mark Jones, political science professor, Rice University.

The opinion states that decades' worth of DEI frameworks spread across more than 100 state laws are unconstitutional, including DEI programs in schools and state and local governments.

Paxton also warns that private companies engaging in the DEI practices could face legal liability under both state and federal law.

"Paxton is signaling that, in his opinion, these policies are illegal. They either violate the U.S. Constitution, the Texas constitution, or Texas law. That said, the attorney general's opinion is only his opinion. It's not a binding decision," said Jones.

Rice University political science professor, Mark Jones, says the timing of the release carries some symbolism.

"Martin Luther King sought out a race-blind society where people would not be judged based on their race but on their achievements and other qualities. And the republican argument is that that's what they're trying to do. The democratic argument would be, of course, that that was not what dr. King necessarily meant. And at the same time, these programs are still necessary due to institutional racism or other forms of racism," said Jones.

The opinion also calls out Senator John Cornyn by name, citing a 1999 opinion he wrote related to the use of race in higher education.

"Attorney General Paxton is using that opinion, which was at a specific point in time related to the Hopwood case which was in discussion right then, and it really has nothing to do with even the broader argument of DEI. It was just a clever way for the attorney general to essentially try to link John Cornyn to DEI," said Cornyn.

Senator John Cornyn responded to the opinion by saying in part, "There’s nothing for him to overturn because nothing was issued, so this is yet another waste of time and taxpayer dollars by the TX tag, showboating for attention. By the way, SCOTUS upheld the logic that led to my retraction, and the case in question eventually and rightfully found that race cannot be used in admissions."

This all comes as the race is heating up in the republican Senate primary race.

"Just as Paxton's attempt to link Cornyn to being a promoter of DEI policies, here is disingenuous. So was Cornyn's attack ad against Paxton relatively recently, claiming that Paxton was supporting DEI and promoting DEI through his decisions and his financial support," said Jones.

And Jones says voters should expect more of it.

Early polling shows the two are neck and neck right now in the race.