GOP warned Trump endorsement could lead to key Senate loss

Conservative Washington Post columnist George Will is warning that President Donald Trump could make the difference between whether a Democrat has a chance in the Texas Senate race.

Writing Friday, Will pointed out that Trump only "carried Texas by 13 points," which is "less than his margin in 19 of the 31 states he won."

He argued that Texas will "someday" elect another Democratic U.S. senator, but if Trump endorses Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary, "that day could come two Novembers from now."

Paxton has an "enthusiasm" for Trump, and Will said that it appears to be reciprocated. Currently, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is "polling behind" Paxton, despite his "checkered past," explained Will. The senior Texas senator has been lukewarm to MAGA, though he's been supportive of Trump's agenda.

Will argued that unlike Paxton, "Cornyn is a gentleman. It might seem eccentric, because anachronistic, consideration. It has, however, contemporary relevance." The lack of civility in the GOP means that not much can be subtracted due to "the party’s already large quotient of loutishness."

"If Cornyn is renominated, his reelection would be highly probable, so securing it would not burden the national party," Will noted. That isn't the case with Paxton, however. With Paxton at the top of the Texas ticket, the GOP "might have to spend $250 million (Texas’s 20 media markets devour $2 million a week for saturation advertising) to drag him to victory. Even that sum might fail to do so."

Will explained that every dollar spent on Paxton would be a dollar not spent to help other Republican candidates.

Read the full column here.