There’s a GOP civil war brewing over the Texas US Senate seat occupied by John Cornyn, who is likely headed for a primary run-off with MAGA state Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a new poll.
The statewide survey was leaked just days before the Republican showdown and apparently commissioned by a third Republican hopeful, Rep. Wesley Hunt, who threw his hat into the ring at the last minute.
The poll found that Cornyn’s support has fallen to 15.4% among likely Republican primary voters — down roughly 10 percentage points from a poll first reported by The Post in early February — while Paxton recorded 38.8% support and Cornyn registered 29.5%.
The X account @pie0myWesley posted the poll’s results Thursday through a Google Drive account that listed one of Hunt’s top aides, James Kyrkanides.
The account stated it was “Owned by Hunt for Congress,” the New York Times first reported. Kyrkanides did not respond to a Post request for comment.
Two J.L. Partners polls previously indicated Hunt was either tied or ahead of Cornyn, a four-term senator who chided voters twice at a campaign event Saturday in The Woodlands area outside Houston that “complacency kills.
“This is not about me,” he said. “This is about our state This is about our party. And this is about our nation’s future. And I need your help.
“You see what’s happened in some of these elections like Mayor [Zohran] Mamdani in New York where 15% of registered voters turned out. People wonder, ‘How does somebody like that get elected?’” he said of the Democratic socialist. “Well, it’s because of the people who show up and vote.”
Nearly half a dozen potential voters who attended President Trump’s event touting “American Energy Dominance” in Corpus Christi on Friday told The Post they would be voting for Paxton — with one attacking Cornyn as a “RINO,” or “Republican In Name Only,” candidate.
“We have a great attorney general, Ken Paxton,” said Trump, who has not endorsed any of the three candidates, to the crowd. “We have a great senator, John Cornyn. They’re in a little race together. … They’re both great people, too.”
The two Senate GOP candidates have been trading barbs in digital ads, with Cornyn’s camp pushing out a video savaging the “crooked” Texas AG for having “cheated on his wife” and giving “millions of Texas tax dollars to left-wing organizations” that “performed gender-affirming services to kids as young as seven.”
Paxton’s daughter fired back in a column and video statement defending her father.
“My dad is not perfect; none of us are. But he is a man of deep faith, genuine love for his family, and an unrelenting commitment to doing right by the people of Texas,” wrote Mattie Hayworth.
But the state AG’s electability has caused consternation among Republicans that the Senate GOP seat could flip in the November midterms if the Texas AG wins the primary.
