Cornyn campaign targets Paxton’s alleged affairs as GOP Senate primary fight grows uglier
The spat, like so many these days, began on X.
A bruising Republican primary race between U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton erupted this week with the men trading personal insults.
Paxton took aim at Cornyn’s relevance. Cornyn’s campaign responded with a taunt over Paxton’s divorce and cheating scandal. In an already bitter race to get the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, the exchange stood out.
The fight unfolded when Paxton posted a story from The New York Times about the extraordinary amount of money pouring into the March 3 race in an effort to save Cornyn, who is seeking his fifth term. Cornyn is by far the best-funded contender in the tight race between Paxton and U.S. Rep, Wesley Hunt, but the race is widely expected to head to a runoff in May.
In a tweet, Paxton shared a snippet from the Times story: “Some establishment Republicans worry that no matter his financial advantage, he will be a serious underdog against Mr. Paxton in the runoff — and that donors’ money would be better spent helping Republicans like Senator Susan Collins of Maine in the fall.”
Paxton chimed in with his own thoughts: “Cornyn’s career is done and everyone knows it. He’s stolen $50+ million from races in NC, ME, MI, and GA and what does he have to show for it?”
More than an hour later, Cornyn’s campaign fired back: “Ken, when this over, you will have nothing. Which turns out to be the same thing you offered to give Angela in divorce proceedings. This after you cheated on her multiple times.”
Angela Paxton, a Republican state senator from McKinney, filed for divorce last year after nearly four decades of marriage, citing her husband’s alleged infidelity among the reasons. Unsealed divorce records revealed that Paxton asked his estranged wife in a response to “take nothing.” Paxton has blamed the divorce on political attacks and public scrutiny.
Paxton did not respond to an email for comment from The Dallas Morning News. In an email to the News, Matt Mackowiak, senior campaign adviser for Cornyn, said, “Sen. Cornyn believes character matters. In this primary, character is on the ballot.”
This is not the first time Cornyn has poked fun at Paxton’s romantic history. Last year, he posted news that Coldplay would introduce camera-free sections for concertgoers after a CEO was caught on a “kiss cam” with a woman who was not his wife.
“Good news for @kenpaxtontx,” he wrote.
A month later, responding to Paxton’s instructions to Texas public schools to display the Ten Commandments, Cornyn took another swipe: “Might want to brush up on the Ten Commandments, Ken.”

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