In a move that has thrown the Texas Republican Senate primary into disarray, Representative Wesley Hunt announced on October 6, 2025, that he will challenge incumbent Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in what is shaping up to be one of the most contentious GOP primaries in recent memory. Hunt’s entry into the race not only defies Senate Republican leadership but also adds a significant new wrinkle to the already complicated contest scheduled for March 3, 2026.
The stakes are high. Senator Cornyn, a four-term incumbent, has steadily built up his campaign war chest, raising $3.36 million between July and September 2025 and ending the third quarter with an imposing $10.5 million in the bank, according to The Hill. In contrast, Paxton raised $2.9 million in the previous quarter and had $2.5 million cash on hand at that time, with his latest figures yet to be reported as of early October. Hunt, meanwhile, will offer the first glimpse of his fundraising strength when his reports are due by January 15, 2026.
Hunt’s candidacy has not been warmly received by the Republican establishment. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Tim Scott criticized Hunt’s campaign as a "vanity project that could cost Republicans control of the Senate and dilute our resources," as reported by the Associated Press. They argue that Hunt’s entry could siphon off resources and attention at a time when the GOP is defending seats in other competitive states.
Despite these warnings, Hunt remains undeterred. "This is not a vanity project. This is about giving the people of Texas a viable alternative," Hunt told the AP. He’s positioned himself as a candidate who can bridge the divide within Texas’ Republican Party, representing both the Trump-aligned base in cities like Tomball and the more traditional, monied Republicans of Houston’s River Oaks. Hunt, an Army veteran and West Point graduate, was the first Republican to endorse Donald Trump after the former president’s 2022 comeback campaign, and he delivered a prime-time speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention. He’s also campaigned for Trump more than any other Republican surrogate, making him a familiar figure to the party’s grassroots.
Cornyn’s supporters, however, are quick to dismiss Hunt’s challenge. An advisor to Cornyn told NOTUS, "Wesley Hunt is a legend in his own mind. 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." The National Republican Senatorial Committee has threatened a "full vetting of his record," underscoring the establishment’s determination to keep the seat in Cornyn’s hands.
Paxton’s camp, by contrast, has welcomed Hunt’s entry, arguing that more choices are good for Texas Republicans. "Primaries are good for our party and our voters, and Wesley and General Paxton both know that Texans deserve better than the failed, anti-Trump record of John Cornyn," Paxton’s team said in a statement cited by NOTUS.
Polling in early October 2025 shows just how tight the race has become. According to a Decision Desk HQ average reported by The Hill, Cornyn leads Paxton by a razor-thin margin—37 percent to 36 percent. Hunt’s campaign could further complicate the picture by attracting voters seeking an alternative to both Cornyn and Paxton, making it increasingly likely that no candidate will secure the majority needed to avoid a runoff, which is scheduled for May 26, 2026.
Hunt’s campaign is already making waves beyond Texas. Since the spring, Hunt and allied groups have spent $5.5 to $6.5 million on advertising, including buys in Florida and Washington, D.C., according to NOTUS and the AP. Cornyn’s backers, meanwhile, have spent over $21 million on television ads in 2025, a testament to the high stakes and deep pockets involved in this race.
For Hunt, the campaign is also about generational change. In his launch video, he declared, "As a young man who is giving his best years back to this country, who is giving my earning years back to this country, I’ve realized that we don’t need any more 70 and 80 year-olds in the Senate. It’s time for us young people to have a voice in the Senate, because the votes that I take are going to be very important because I’m still going to be around to see them come to fruition." At 43, Hunt would be the first Black senator from Texas if elected, while Cornyn is 73 and Paxton is 62.
Paxton’s campaign has been dogged by legal and personal troubles, including state and federal corruption investigations, a 2023 impeachment trial, and a high-profile divorce announced by his wife in July 2025. Despite these challenges, Paxton’s team insists that his troubles have not hurt him politically. Hunt, for his part, argues that Paxton’s lack of active campaigning is the only reason Cornyn has closed the polling gap. "I can assure you if Ken were fighting back, there wouldn’t be a closing of the gap at all, but the fact of the matter is he’s not," Hunt said in a radio appearance, as reported by NOTUS.
The Republican establishment’s frustration with Hunt runs deep. According to NOTUS, Hunt has alienated many of his fellow House Republicans by pressuring Cornyn to retire and by aggressively raising his profile outside his Houston base. One unnamed Texas GOP House member remarked, "There’s 25 of us in the delegation, and I’d say he is the least liked out of everybody." The NRSC even urged Hunt’s donors to tell him to "stop wasting donor resources on Senate posturing." Still, Hunt’s campaign has persisted, and he now becomes the third Republican congressman in 2025 to defy party leadership by running statewide, following John James in Michigan and David Schweikert in Arizona.
Meanwhile, Texas Democrats are quietly hoping that the Republican infighting will create an opening in a state that has eluded them for decades. Their own Senate primary is heating up, with state Rep. James Talarico and former Rep. Colin Allred vying for the nomination. Either would be the first Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate since 1993, and like Hunt, Allred would also be the state’s first Black senator.
As the March 2026 primary approaches, all eyes are on Texas. With three high-profile candidates, millions in campaign cash, and deep divisions within the GOP, the outcome remains highly uncertain—and could have ripple effects far beyond the Lone Star State.
