President Donald Trump is still keeping the political world guessing over which candidate he will endorse in Texas’ Republican Senate primary runoff election between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
MAGA activists attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are taking Trump’s silence as a sign that he will endorse Paxton, the candidate they favor, according to Politico.
Trump announced earlier this month that he would withhold his endorsement until the SAVE America Act is passed.
The primary race headed to a runoff after none of the candidates won 50 percent of the March 3 vote. As of Friday morning, the president has not decided which candidate he will back, insiders told Politico. There is also the possibility that he will decide not to make an endorsement at all.
In a historic FAILURE for John Cornyn, he was primaried, & FAILED to receive nearly 60% of the GOP vote after spending $100 million, vs $5 million spent by Ken Paxton.
— Marla Hohner (@marlahohner) March 15, 2026
On May 26, Texas has our first chance in decades for a conservative to reclaim that Senate seat. Go Ken Paxton! pic.twitter.com/EEIexHTT9H
MAGA supporters refer to the lack of significant spending by Cornyn’s campaign, the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC), and the Senate Leadership Fund-aligned nonprofit One Nation as a sign that the establishment might be throwing in the towel. They believe they are conceding the win to Paxton.
The attorney general traveled to Mar-a-Lago last Friday for a Palm Beach County GOP dinner and had a private conversation with Trump.
However, Cornyn’s allies have pushed back against the notion that Paxton is the favored candidate. Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak told Politico that Paxton underperformed in fundraising and carries serious liabilities with GOP donors and voters due to his long list of scandals.
"Ken Paxton said he needed $20M to win this primary and he's barely raised a quarter of that,” Mackowiak told Politico. “His professional failures and indefensible personal conduct make GOP donors and Texas primary voters deeply uncomfortable."
JUST IN: Senator John Cornyn tells me President Trump's endorsement in his race against Ken Paxton will be, "decisive" and says the president, "knows that I would be the best candidate to help the ticket going into November." Senator Cornyn says Paxton, "may in fact lose the… pic.twitter.com/UxIm9925ml
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) March 24, 2026
He further stated that Cornyn’s team has “a plan to win this race” and that Paxton “is busy whining and hiding.”
The most recent polling shows a tight race between the two candidates, which suggests a Trump endorsement could make all the difference. A Change Research survey of 811 likely Texas primary voters conducted between March 17 and 19 found Paxton leading Cornyn 42 percent to 39 percent with 16 percent undecided, Newsweek reported.
The same poll found that if Trump chose Paxton, his lead would rise to 50 percent to 40 percent. However, if the president endorses Cornyn, the senator would lead Paxton 44 percent to 41 percent.