Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton privately accused outgoing Sen. John Cornyn of trying to sink his campaign, according to new leaked audio from a Washington fundraiser obtained by CNN.
“He’s clearly not helping. He wants me to lose,” Paxton, the state’s attorney general, said at the Sept. 24 event. CNN obtained the recording from an attendee who opposes him.
Paxton has publicly stated that he would “love to have” Cornyn’s support after beating the senator in a bruising GOP primary runoff, and now national Republicans are scrambling to his race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, which polls show is tight.
Republicans have poured well over $100 million into the general election for a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994.
On the recording, Paxton told a story he said came from a friend who ran into Cornyn at a Dallas restaurant. According to Paxton, the friend bought dessert for Cornyn’s table and thanked him for “supporting Ken Paxton.”
“Cornyn’s face went red, he backed off,” Paxton said. “He said, ‘Paxton’s gonna lose. We need to teach those Republicans a lesson. It’s going to be hard to learn, but they need to know that their decisions have consequences.’”
“That’s what he’s trying to do,” Paxton added. “That’s John Cornyn.”
CNN did not independently confirm the account, and Cornyn strategist Rob Jesmer flatly denied the restaurant conversation took place.
“If Sen. Cornyn wanted Ken to lose, I can assure you he’d be more active in the campaign,” Jesmer said. “Given all Ken has said and done, I think that’s a pretty good place for Sen. Cornyn to be.”
Paxton’s campaign called it “a story that doesn’t exist,” while also noting that Paxton has “called, texted, and offered to have a conversation” with Cornyn.
The clip is at least the fifth recording to leak from the same fundraiser. In earlier clips, Paxton said he felt he had lost “control” of his campaign to outside groups.
Paxton’s own team has admitted it has trouble with the GOP base. A campaign memo dated Tuesday, reported by Punchbowl News, told donors that the “biggest challenge we face is shoring up Republicans following a bruising primary.”
A Fox News poll from late last month found that nearly a third of Republican likely voters viewed Paxton unfavorably. Talarico was winning about a fifth of “non-MAGA” Republicans.
Cornyn has called Paxton a “poor campaigner” and a “lazy” candidate. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) cautioned that some Republicans “may just not vote, and that’s the danger.”
President Donald Trump, who endorsed Paxton ahead of the runoff, has said he is “worried” about the race, but at a San Antonio campaign event Wednesday he still insisted, “I would have no regrets at all.”