A political action committee tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has not stepped in with new spending for Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the contentious Texas GOP Senate runoff, as polling shows the four-term incumbent slipping behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
One Nation PAC, which spent nearly $11 million backing Cornyn ahead of the March 3 primary, has not spent anything on the race in recent weeks. One Nation is the main advocacy arm for the Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s official super PAC working to maintain Thune’s majority.
Despite the lull in outside spending, the National Republican Senatorial Committee says that Cornyn is still Thune’s preferred pick in Texas.
“We’ve been very clear that the fight to protect President Trump’s Senate majority should not be fought in Texas, and John Cornyn is the only candidate who ensures that does not happen,” NRSC spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez said.
The NRSC has a joint fundraising committee with Cornyn that is still spending money on the runoff. Matt Mackowiak, a senior adviser to the Cornyn campaign, told the Washington Examiner that it was still confident of victory when voters go to the polls on May 26 for the runoff.
“We have a plan to win the runoff, and we are executing it,” Mackowiak said. “Stay tuned.”
The race has already become one of the most expensive Senate primaries in history, with more than $110 million spent on advertising. As of last month, Cornyn had received $69 million in total ad support, accounting for more than 57% of overall spending.
“The establishment PACs are already over $100 million in the hole with little to show,” a Texas GOP strategist told the Washington Examiner. “They’d be smart to preserve resources to protect the Senate this fall and let Texans decide their nominee.”
According to an Impact Research poll, Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico has a slight edge, leading Cornyn by 2 points and Paxton by 1 point. The poll also shows that primary voters prefer Paxton to Cornyn by a 16-point margin. Impact Research is a Democratic consulting firm.
Trump announced earlier this month that he would make an endorsement “soon” in the Texas Senate runoff. The Atlantic initially reported that endorsement would go to Cornyn, but the prospect drew fierce backlash from MAGA influencers, who have rallied behind Paxton.
The president has yet to endorse in the race — a move that could prove decisive in the closely contested runoff.
Cornyn and Paxton are heading to a runoff election after neither candidate earned more than 50% of the vote in the Republican primary, which also included Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX). Cornyn led the primary race on March 3 with 41.9%, with Paxton close behind at 40.7%.
Cornyn has faced sustained criticism from the right for supporting a bipartisan gun control deal during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
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The eventual Republican nominee will face Talarico in the general election, where Democrats hope to break a decadeslong statewide losing streak. The Democratic primary featured the highest turnout in two decades, and Talarico is expected to benefit from a motivated base of Democratic voters.
The Washington Examiner reached out to One Nation for comment.