Senator John Cornyn will not be attending President Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention in Texas next week, a spokesperson for his office confirmed to Newsweek. Cornyn’s absence comes as some Republicans have warned the Texas Senate race is becoming unusually competitive ahead of the midterms. Cornyn has held the seat for decades but lost renomination to Trump-endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary earlier this year.
Republicans will descend on Dallas next week for the unprecedented midterm convention to build enthusiasm among the party’s base, as polls suggest the GOP is increasingly vulnerable in this year’s midterms and that Trump’s approval rating has continued to reach record lows amid economic frustration. Texas backed Trump by 14 points in 2024, a decisive victory driven by the president's inroads with Latino voters. But the GOP's advantage in the state has slipped two years later, as Democrats believe 2026 could be the year the Lone Star State flips.
Cornyn has previously hinted that he may not attend the convention due to a potential conflict, but a spokesperson formally confirmed to Newsweek on Thursday that the Senator does not plan to attend. Republicans hope the convention could give Paxton a boost as he faces an increasingly close race against Democratic state Representative James Talarico. The convention gives the GOP an opportunity to get their message out to voters across the state and country, as well as unite behind candidates, particularly in Texas, where the contentious GOP primary left fractures within the party.
Paxton emerged victorious against Cornyn, who had been viewed by some in the party as insufficiently aligned with Trump. However, during the primary, Cornyn’s supporters had raised concerns about Paxton’s vulnerability in a general election, casting the incumbent as a safer option in a year Democrats have the opportunity to expand the battleground. Trump endorsed Paxton over Cornyn ahead of the GOP runoff, helping carry the challenger across the finish line.
Cornyn had been viewed as more of a traditional conservative, rather than part of MAGA. He has at times been more critical of Trump, said he did not believe he would win in 2024, and supported a 2022 bipartisan gun-safety bill after the Uvalde mass shooting, drawing ire from the more conservative corners of the party. Trump attacked Cornyn as a “RINO,” a term standing for “Republican in Name Only,” over his support for the gun safety bill.
In the aftermath of his primary loss, Cornyn played a key role in holding up the nomination of Attorney General Todd Blanche over a DOJ settlement granting Trump and his family immunity from IRS audits and would have established an “anti-weaponization fund,” though Cornyn would eventually vote for Blanche. Trump in July boasted in a post to Truth Social that Cornyn’s career had been “ended by my action.” The Senate race has become increasingly competitive as Paxton has struggled to unite the GOP and win over independent voters in Texas. Several recent polls show Talarico either leading or tied with Paxton, and the Cook Political Report recently reclassified the race as a pure toss-up.
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