Trump Backs Paxton Over Cornyn in Texas Senate Runoff

Donald Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton in the Texas U.S. Senate runoff lands with real weight for Second Amendment voters — because the man Paxton is chasing has a documented record of working against gun rights.

John Cornyn co-authored the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant federal gun-control legislation in nearly three decades. He sat down with Chuck Schumer, cut a deal, and handed Joe Biden a signature win on your gun rights. That is not in dispute.

Now Cornyn faces a primary runoff, and Trump is telling Texas Republicans exactly where he stands. When the sitting President endorses your primary challenger, the message is not subtle.

On the general-election side waits Democrat James Talarico, already running the standard "commonsense gun safety" script — that is gun-control lobby language for licensing schemes, waiting periods, magazine bans, and whatever else Bloomberg-backed donors authorize this cycle. Talarico is not a moderate. He is a vehicle for every anti-gun bill that failed in Austin and is looking for a federal address.

For Second Amendment voters, the stakes are straightforward: a Cornyn win leaves a gun-control dealmaker in a Senate seat Texas is supposed to own. A Paxton win puts a fighter with a documented record of suing the federal government — including over regulatory overreach — into that same seat.

Paxton's tenure as Texas AG generated controversy, but his litigation record against Washington bureaucrats is on the docket. He went to court. Cornyn went to the negotiating table and came back with a bill that expanded background check categories and pumped federal funding into state red-flag law programs.

Texas gun owners cannot afford to sit this one out. General elections against Democrats are won or lost in primaries exactly like this one.

**Bottom line:** Trump's endorsement makes this a litmus-test race for the 2A community. If you are a Texas gun owner, find your runoff date, confirm your registration, and vote Paxton. If you are outside Texas, back the pro-gun organizations working this race on the ground. Cornyn's record is already written — do not let it earn a sequel.