WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Senate Republican runoff primary race in Texas is testing the President’s influence. Depending on who wins the Republican nomination, Democrats believe they could have a fighting chance to retake Texas.
Trump threw his support towards Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over long-time Senator John Cornyn (R- TX). Some national Republicans feel that Cornyn has a better chance going against Democratic candidate James Talarico in November. If Paxton wins the party’s nomination, some Republicans believe it will be a huge fight for the GOP to keep that Senate seat red.
In recent primary elections in Louisiana and Kentucky, the President has been successful in pushing out Republican candidates he deems as not sufficiently loyal to him and his agenda. Dr. Todd Belt, a professor and director of George Washington University’s political management program, said Trump’s endorsement carries a lot of weight, especially in a place like the Lone Star state.
“We’ve seen both candidates talk about how loyal they are to Trump and how much they vote for Donald Trump and the things they’ve done to help Donald Trump, so he’s really big in this,” said Dr. Belt. “We know the Democrats would rather have Paxton, who is Trump’s preferred candidate, and the reason for that is they think he is vulnerable for a number of different ethical issues.”
Democrats have not won a statewide office in Texas since the early 90s. Regardless of who wins, we can expect the race for the Texas Senate seat to be a very expensive one for the November elections. Political scientists said it’s a longshot for Democrats to win back control of the Senate in November but their party is looking to retake some other Senate seats like in Maine, Alaska and North Carolina.
