Cornyn outraised Paxton in kickoff quarter of Texas Senate primary upended by AG's divorce
Cornyn raised $3.9 million to Paxton's $2.9 million between April, the month the conservative firebrand Paxton launched his campaign to unseat the four-term senator, and the end of June, their campaigns said.
Their fundraising totals come as the race is upended by Paxton's wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who sent shockwaves through Texas last week with her announcement that she had filed for divorce. Her divorce petition accused Paxton of adultery and said they had not lived together for more than a year. A state court on Friday ordered records in the divorce sealed, several Texas news outlets reported, which could spare Paxton from having to address potentially embarrassing details that emerge during the proceedings in the midst of his campaign.
Paxton — who built his public image by taking on Democratic presidents in high-profile legal battles and has positioned himself as a Donald Trump-supporting, anti-establishment crusader — is seen by many Republicans as the early favorite in what's likely to be an expensive and bruising primary.
Waiting in the wings, though, is Rep. Wesley Hunt, the 43-year-old Houston-area congressman and Trump ally who flew to survey flooding damage on Air Force One last week with Trump, Cornyn and Sen. Ted Cruz.
Hunt for weeks has signaled that he might join the race. He is more closely aligned with Trump than Cornyn but lacks the political baggage of Paxton, who was impeached by the Texas House in 2023. Paxton's impeachment came after he requested $3.3 million in taxpayer money to settle a whistleblower lawsuit with former staffers who accused him of accepting bribes from a real estate developer and abusing his office. Paxton was also accused of having an extramarital affair with a woman who was hired by the real estate developer.
Hunt over the weekend debuted a new one-minute, campaign-style ad that opens with Trump calling him 'a man with an unlimited future.' It includes Hunt's biographical details — including being the great-great-grandson of a slave, graduating from West Point and serving in the Army in combat.
In a statement announcing his fundraising total, Cornyn campaign manager Andy Hemming highlighted the senator's record of voting with Trump.
'We are confident that we are on track to have the necessary resources to communicate to Texas GOP primary voters about Senator Cornyn's conservative record and provide facts about Ken Paxton's repeated mismanagement of his office, ethical failures and funding of radical left wing groups with taxpayer grants,' Hemming said.
Paxton announced his $2.9 million haul on Friday.
'I've been incredibly honored and blown away by the support I've received since launching my campaign. The grassroots movement to fire John Cornyn continues to grow stronger ever single day, and this is only just the beginning,' Paxton said in a statement.
CNN's Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
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