Cornyn Says He Personally Chose To Not Invite Paxton To Attend Texas Fundraiser with Other GOP Senate Candidates

Senator John Cornyn says that it was his decision to keep Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who defeated Mr. Cornyn in the Senate GOP primary this year, away from a Dallas fundraiser benefiting Republican candidates for the Senate. The Monday fundraiser was attended by multiple candidates, including some sitting senators, who are facing tough re-election battles this year. Mr. Paxton’s absence from the fundraiser was first reported by the New York Times. Mr. Cornyn tells the New York Sun that he personally made the decision to not include Mr. Paxton, who has struggled to raise money and now faces a competitive race against Democratic state representative James Talarico. “That was my idea,” Mr. Cornyn said with a smile after being asked who decided to keep Mr. Paxton away. He called the event, which featured President George W. Bush, “very successful.” The fundraiser was for Mr. Cornyn’s group Maintain the Majority, a joint fundraising operation that supports Republican candidates in Alaska, Ohio, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Iowa. Late Tuesday, Punchbowl News first reported that a spending group tied to the Senate Leadership Fund — one of the Senate GOP’s main fundraising groups — was dropping an additional $35 million into the Texas Senate race through another group. The group, TEXAS PAC, is currently earmarked to spend more than $100 million on Mr. Paxton’s behalf. Mr. Cornyn says because national Republicans are now dropping money on the race, Mr. Paxton did not need to be invited to the fundraising event that was held at Dallas on Monday. “He’s got $100 million being spent in that race, so he doesn’t need the money,” Mr. Cornyn said. According to polls, Mr. Paxton still trails Mr. Talarico even after tens of millions of dollars have been spent on his behalf since he defeated Mr. Cornyn in the GOP primary back in May. Polling aggregates show Mr. Talarico with a lead of anywhere from two-and-a-half to three points. The most recent FEC filings show Mr. Talarico has raised nearly $70 million for his campaign and entered the third quarter with more than $20 million on hand. Mr. Paxton, meanwhile, has raised just over $9 million and entered this quarter with less than $2 million in his account. Many of Mr. Cornyn’s top donors have decided to sit out the general election money race after an especially ugly primary between Messrs. Cornyn and Paxton, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune. In an interview with the Tribune, Mr. Cornyn said Mr. Paxton is a “lazy” campaigner who is apparently unable to broaden his coalition, including to Mr. Cornyn’s own supporters. “Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Mr. Cornyn said in an interview last month. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it — we are where we are.”

Cornyn Says He Personally Chose To Not Invite Paxton To Attend Texas Fundraiser with Other GOP Senate Candidates

Cornyn Says He Personally Chose To Not Invite Paxton To Attend Texas Fundraiser with Other GOP Senate Candidates

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