'Vanity project': Major GOP group gives epic putdown to own party's Senate contender
"Powerful GOP fundraising group calls Rep. Wesley Hunt’s speculative Senate bid a wasteful “vanity project”" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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WASHINGTON — The powerful GOP fundraising arm of the Senate is urging Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) to stop teasing a primary challenge for U.S. Senate and to back incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a scathing memo calling his speculative bid a “vanity project.”
Hunt, a second-term congressman, tested the waters of a Senate bid this summer through television advertisements introducing him to voters across Texas, including in Dallas, San Antonio and Waco. Groups supporting Hunt and his own campaign poured more than $3 million into the ads.
The National Republican Senate Committee, which is backing Cornyn, sent a memo to Hunt’s donors calling on them to ask Hunt to stop wasting resources.
“We urge donors and allies to deliver this message directly — tell Wesley Hunt to protect his seat and back Senator John Cornyn,” the memo said. “It’s time for the vanity project that could cost Republicans control of the Senate and dilute our resources to end.”
Cornyn is already facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a competitive Senate primary and Hunt’s spending could dilute the GOP’s resources, the memo said.
“For Republicans to win, resources and focus must remain on reelecting Senator Cornyn and protecting our Senate Majority,” said the memo, which was first reported by The Hill.
Polling released in the first half of the year consistently showed Cornyn trailing Paxton in the primary, which left room for Hunt to enter the race. This deficit has since narrowed, according to several August polls.
“The deficit is gone, but Wesley Hunt continues to cling to the false narrative he pushed as a justification for his own ambitions,” the memo said. “There never was, and never will be, a tenable pathway for Hunt.”
“Hunt and his allies have spent nearly $5 million in an attempt to prop him up as a candidate for this race, and still have nothing to show for it,” the memo continued.
Hunt would face an uphill battle in the primary. Cornyn has served in the Senate since 2002 and has the backing of Senate leadership and a large donor network. Paxton also has name recognition across Texas and the support of many hardline conservatives.
The Houston representative has until the December filing deadline to officially enter the race.
Hunt’s team declined to comment on the memo.
Gabby Birenbaum contributed to this reporting.