Three Texas Republicans are chasing the same U.S. Senate seat, but they might as well be running three different races, one on television, one online and one on the road.
With early voting starting Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt are competing less on policy than on what moves GOP voters, with a stark contrast in campaign styles.
The approach that prevails in the March 3 primary will help determine who has the strength and structure to endure what could be a long political fight.
Cornyn: Air war incumbent
Cornyn and his allies are leaning on money and message discipline, flooding the airwaves with ads that both attack Paxton over his legal and personal troubles and highlight Cornyn’s ties to President Donald Trump.
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Cornyn largely has stayed in Washington, mixing official Senate work with Texas campaign moments, such as a recent tour on the border, betting that repetition on TV can blunt grassroots skepticism and carry him into a runoff.
Paxton: Low spend, base trust
Paxton generally has avoided mainstream media, relying instead on friendly interviews, social media attacks, conservative speaking gigs and a steady stream of news releases touting official actions.
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His camp believes his standing with MAGA conservatives is strong enough to get through the first round, saving serious spending for a runoff in May when the race narrows among the primary’s top two voter-getters and the stakes rise.
Hunt: Barnstorm or bust
With the least cash on hand, the Houston congressman has gone old school, crisscrossing Texas for meet-and-greets while mostly conceding the airwaves.
The strategy has raised his profile outside Houston but at a cost, drawing criticism for missed votes in Washington and turning his travel schedule itself into a campaign issue.
Independent analysts say the divide reflects competing beliefs about what will most motivate Texas Republicans in 2026: disciplined messages, carefully shaped images or direct voter contact.
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“They all have their own perspective when it comes to what the GOP should be and they all have their different personalities that help them get there,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist.
With the candidates espousing similar conservative policy positions, the choices are more about their approaches to the job: the measured, experienced Cornyn, the grassroots darling Paxton and the younger Army vet Hunt.
“For Republican voters it’s a question of style not substance,” Rottinghaus said.
Michael O. Adams, a political scientist and pollster at Texas Southern University, sees the race as a showdown between traditional Republicans and those aligned with Trump’s MAGA movement.
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“This race is part of an election season where the Republican Party is transitioning to a realignment and some new leadership,” Adams said.
Democratic primary contenders Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico have said a Republican runoff would help Democrats by forcing the GOP to spend more time and money on an extended fight ahead of November.
State of the GOP race
Paxton claimed the frontrunner mantle last spring, with many analysts expecting his popularity among hard-line voters to give him an edge.
Since then, Cornyn’s TV blitz has defined Paxton as a diminished candidate dogged by ethics questions, a move that has tightened the contest in pre-primary polls.
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“Paxton has taken a lot of hits from Cornyn,” said GOP consultant Matthew Langston. “That has really stopped a lot of Paxton’s momentum.”
Dallas-based conservative talk radio host Mark Davis said Paxton entered the race with “a burst of his star power,” positioning himself as the MAGA alternative to Cornyn.
But months of Cornyn ads casting himself as Trump’s “best friend” have shaped how many casual voters are seeing the race, narrowing what once looked like Paxton’s clear advantage.
Paxton response
Paxton has run a low-key campaign centered on pointed social media posts and conservative speaking engagements while largely avoiding open press questioning.
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He had spent $1.7 million through the end of 2025 and had $3.7 million on hand, far less than Cornyn and his allies have spent on advertising. The only notable Paxton campaign TV spot has been centered around an AI video mocking Cornyn.
Langston said the restrained approach reflects a runoff strategy, conserving money until the two-man runoff.
“The financial component to the race is to hold back,” he said. “He’s punching a ticket and moving to the runoff.”
Cornyn has a series of get-out-the-vote events next week. Paxton plans to attend several events hosted by a PAC supporting his candidacy.
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While largely avoiding open press questioning, Paxton has leaned on news releases touting his office’s official actions.
That has included Trump-aligned moves, from bid rigging investigations to Houston-area raids that led to the detention of 50 people in the country illegally.
He has also promoted consumer actions, including an agreement with the maker of Crest toothpaste over how it markets fluoridated products for children.
Cornyn has dismissed Paxton’s approach, saying the attorney general has been “busy issuing press releases” while avoiding the media. Cornyn regularly speaks with reporters, and his campaign has been more proactive in flagging news outlets about campaign events.
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Hunt lags the other two candidates in financial resources, reporting $744,000 in campaign cash in hand at the end of 2025, well below Paxton’s tally and a fraction of the money Cornyn can access.
Unable to compete on the airwaves, Hunt has leaned on constant travel, saying he entered the race because Paxton wasn’t making the case against Cornyn aggressively enough and arguing he is the only candidate actively campaigning.
He made stops last month in Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio, among other cities.
“This exemplifies a genuine campaign. It shows what defending Texas truly means,” Hunt’s campaign said in a news release.
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Hunt’s heavy travel has kept him away from Washington. He missed 60 of 69 votes from Dec. 18, 2025 to Feb. 9, 2026, according to GovTrack.
Cornyn said Hunt has been endangering the Trump agenda by shirking his duties.
“First and foremost, my priority is my job and that is obviously not his priority,” Cornyn said.
Hunt has said Texas Republicans are more concerned about replacing Cornyn than his attendance record.
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Last week, Paxton’s allies began running ads portraying Hunt as insufficiently conservative and too close to Democrats.
Hunt has brushed off the spots, saying his opponents are scared by his growing presence in the race. “That’s why they’re attacking, and that’s why we’re going to win,” he said.
Read more on The Dallas Morning News
