Texas GOP candidates for Senate position for potential May runoff

Texas Senate race heats up

We are less than a month away from the start of early voting for the March Primary. One of the hottest races involves the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

LAKEWAY, Texas - U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt was in Lakeway Tuesday speaking before a group of Central Texas Republicans.  

Polls continue to show Hunt trailing incumbent John Cornyn and fellow challenger Ken Paxton. Despite that, and being less than 30 days before early voting begins, Hunt is not hitting the panic button. 

What they're saying:

"No, I wouldn't say make-a-break time," said Hunt.

The focus, according to Hunt, remains on introducing himself to voters.

"I think hitting places that aren't the major media markets and also, of course, hitting the major media markets are all we need to do to get my name ID to where it needs to be victorious next month," said Hunt.

The other focus for Hunt is an overtime win in May.

"I'll play for the runoff. I think the top two are going to finish, and I'm going to be in the top two," said Hunt.

To make the runoff, Hunt continues to target John Cornyn; although he has recently lumped Ken Paxton with Cornyn into an "old guard" category. FOX 7 Austin asked Hunt why he had not raised Paxton’s character issues. 

"That's up for the people of Texas to decide. I don't judge anybody's morality. That is up to God. And also, by me talking about Ken's problems, I'm not talking about my solutions. I would much rather use my sentences and use my words to tell you what I'm going to be as a United States Senator than worry about somebody else's moral issues," said Hunt.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, left; U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, middle; and Texas AG Ken Paxton, right. All three are vying for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas.

Big picture view:

Ken Paxton has spent most of his time at friendly speaking engagements and doing limited media interviews.  

John Cornyn also remains the main focus for Paxton. A recent attack ad showed an AI-generated two-step dance between Cornyn and Democrat Jasmine Crockett. 

Cornyn spoke to FOX 7 Austin about the ad and the tone of the race.

"I thought it was pretty laughable. And everybody knows I can't dance. So, it's absolutely not true," said Cornyn.

Unlike Hunt, Cornyn is bringing up Paxton’s personal and professional missteps. Cornyn has also taken shots at Hunt and, like Hunt, is playing for a runoff.

"To me, this race really boils down to a test of character. He's betting that character no longer matters to Texans. I bet, the character still does matter. And it has to matter. So that's really the choice that people are going to be given in the run-up to the runoff on May 26," said Cornyn.

Democrat James Talarico's campaign also got into the GOP fight with a statement Tuesday, quoting Cornyn calling Talarico "dangerous" and including Cornyn’s warning that some polls have Talarico in a general election tie if Paxton is the GOP senate nominee.