WASHINGTON — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has a clear lead in the Lone Star State’s Senate Republican primary over incumbent John Cornyn — putting the two on a collision course for a May runoff, according to a new poll commissioned by Paxton’s principal campaign committee.
The Pulse Decision Science survey found that 36% of likely GOP primary voters support Paxton, 27% back Cornyn and 15% prefer Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas). Another 22% said they were undecided about who to support.
Early voting for the March 3 primary starts next week, with a runoff between the top two candidates set for May 26 if no contender gets above 50%.
A separate independent poll from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs also found Paxton ahead of Cornyn, 38%-31%, while Hunt registered just 17%.
A JL Partners poll first reported by The Post last week showed Hunt ahead of Cornyn, 25.7% to 21.7%, with Paxton again in the lead at 27% among likely Republican primary voters.
The RealClearPolitics polling aggregator shows Paxton in front with 29.8% of the potential primary vote, Cornyn close behind with 27.8% and Hunt in third place at 19.5%.
President Trump has not endorsed any of the three Republicans, though all have sought to claim the mantle of his Make America Great Again movement.
Both Paxton and Hunt have attacked Cornyn as a Washington insider — with the Texas AG’s campaign releasing an AI-generated digital ad last month showing the four-term Republican senator doing “the Washington waltz” with potential Democratic challenger Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
But Paxton has also battled negative press over his impeachment by the Texas House in May 2023.
The state Senate acquitted the state AG on 16 articles stemming from his intervening in a lawsuit to aid a political donor — who was also employing Paxton’s alleged mistress.
His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton — who recused herself from voting — filed for divorce this past July.
“The people of Texas know Ken Paxton, and they know John Cornyn. That’s why, despite being outspent by over $70 million by his opponents where they’ve tried to peddle lies about the Attorney General and hide their own records, Paxton remains in a strong position headed into early voting.”
“Furthermore, AG Paxton will now tell his story and make his case to the people of Texas through paid media beginning on Friday,” Paxton adviser Nick Maddux stated in a memo accompanying the internal poll.
Hunt has also received negative coverage for his history of missing House votes — including last month when GOP leaders held a vote open to await the congressman’s return to tank a Democrat-backed resolution.
The measure, if successful, would have blocked Trump from taking further military actions in Venezuela following the US arrest of dictator Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3.
The Paxton campaign paid for 800 likely Republican primary voters in Texas to be surveyed Feb. 8-11.