Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt launched a Senate run Monday, roiling an already contentious and costly Republican primary battle and potentially complicating his party’s efforts to hold the red-state seat.
“The time is NOW,’’ Hunt posted on social media, officially launching a campaign he’d been pondering for months. “For Faith. For Family. For Freedom. FOR TEXAS.”
An Army veteran and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Hunt is currently in his second term representing a suburban Houston district. His two-minute launch video features testimonials from family and friends, as well as fellow Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona.
Hunt’s decision risks the anger of national GOP figures, who had for months tried to dissuade him from taking on Sen. John Cornyn. The Republican incumbent is already facing a primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, and polls so far have generally shown Paxton in the lead, though Cornyn has narrowed that edge in recent surveys.
Hunt aims to position himself as a third choice for Texas Republicans disenchanted with the two men already in the race.
“What I’ve seen in polling over the past few months is people want an alternative, and I’m going to give it to them,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday.
Cornyn’s campaign dismissed Hunt as “a legend in his own mind” and said his entry would only benefit Democrats.
“No one is happier this morning than the national Democrats who are watching Wesley continue his quixotic quest for relevancy, costing tens of millions of dollars that will endanger the Trump agenda from being passed,’’ Cornyn senior adviser Matt Mackowiak said in a statement.
As the incumbent, Cornyn enjoys the support of Republican leaders in the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Paxton, who is currently in his third term as state attorney general, is pitching himself as an outsider ready to dismantle the GOP establishment. He has long been dogged by controversy, surviving an impeachment effort in 2023 over corruption allegations. More recently, in July, his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.”
Paxton campaign adviser Nick Maddux told KTVT-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth that the campaign welcomed Hunt to the race, saying, “Primaries are good for our party and our voters, and Welsey and General Paxton both know that Texans deserve better than the failed, anti-Trump record of John Cornyn.”
Democrats are eyeing the Texas race as a potential pickup opportunity in an otherwise daunting quest to flip the Senate next year. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the chamber and have Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote, so Democrats would need a net gain of four seats to win the majority.
Former Rep. Colin Allred, who lost the 2024 Senate race to Sen. Ted Cruz, is running again but faces a competitive primary, with state Rep. James Talarico and retired NASA astronaut Terry Virts also in the race. Democrats have not won a Senate election in Texas since 1988.
Talarico’s campaign announced last week that it had raised an eye-popping $6.2 million in the first three weeks since he entered the race last month. Allred’s campaign said he raised more than $4.1 million through Sept. 30 since launching his bid in July.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the Senate race in Texas as Likely Republican.
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