Sen. Thom Tillis called Trump’s backing of Ken Paxton over John Cornyn for Texas’ GOP Senate nomination a “colossal mistake,” saying loyalty outweighed suitability. A Texas Public Opinion Research poll put Democrat James Talarico five points ahead of Paxton.
A month before the midterms, Paxton was facing Texas state Rep. James Talarico; the same poll showed Talarico favored by independent voters by double digits. Tillis said “we would not be spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas if Cornyn had won” and said Cornyn had voted with Trump more than 98% of the time. He argued that demands for near-total loyalty were unrealistic and could cost Republicans elections.
