Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading incumbent Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn by 9 points in the Republican primary for the state’s 2026 Senate race, according to an early poll published Wednesday.
In a hypothetical two-way primary matchup, Paxton leads with 43% of the vote to Cornyn’s 34%, according to a poll from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University. Still, the poll found that 23% of likely Republican primary voters said they were unsure how they would vote in the hypothetical two-way primary.
Of those surveyed, 42% of voters said they held a favorable view of Paxton, while 38% of respondents said they viewed Cornyn favorably, according to the poll.
The poll found that 49% of likely GOP primary voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate if they received an endorsement from President Donald Trump, while 13% would be less likely to vote for a Trump-backed candidate, and 38% said an endorsement from Trump would not have an effect on their vote.
Trump has not yet made an endorsement in the 2026 Texas Senate race. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Tim Scott both urged the president to endorse Cornyn, CNN first reported on April 6.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told WFAA in a May 20 interview that he is not planning to endorse either GOP candidate in the 2026 Texas Senate race, citing the fact that he is friends with both Paxton and Cornyn.
“John Cornyn and Ken Paxton – they’re both friends of mine,” Cruz told the outlet. “I know them both very well. I’ve worked closely with both of them for over a decade. I like and respect them. I’m going to stay out of this one. I’m going to trust the voters of Texas to make their decision.”
Chris LaCivita, a top political adviser to President Donald Trump, is slated to serve as a senior adviser for Texans for a Conservative Majority, a super PAC backing Cornyn’s reelection bid, Axios reported on May 22. The incumbent Texas Republican also brought on Tony Fabrizio, a senior Trump strategist and Republican pollster, to work on his Senate campaign, the outlet reported.
Cornyn’s campaign is launching four new political advertisements accusing Paxton of “funding the left,” The Hill first reported on Wednesday.
The Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University conducted a representative survey of 1,200 Texas registered voters from May 9 to 19.
Cornyn’s campaign and Paxton’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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