Ken Paxton to challenge John Cornyn for U.S. Senate seat in Texas

Paxton has held statewide office since 2015, while Cornyn's Senate tenure stretches back to 2002.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a primary challenge against longtime Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday night, setting the stage for a battle between two politicians representing different parts of the Republican Party.

Both Paxton and Cornyn have won multiple statewide elections. Paxton, a GOP hard-liner, was first elected in 2015, while Cornyn — a deputy to Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky when he was the Senate Republican leader — has held his seat since 2002.

“I’m announcing that I’m running for U.S. Senate against John Cornyn, who apparently is running again for his fifth term, which would put him there three decades. It’s definitely time for a change in Texas,” Paxton told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on her program.

“We have another great U.S. senator, Ted Cruz, and it’s time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Trump, Donald Trump, in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way,” Paxton added.

A campaign spokesperson for Cornyn, 73, defended his voting record and said on X that Texas needs “a battle-tested conservative” like Cornyn.