Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is trailing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) by a whopping 16 points in the 2026 Republican Senate primary, according to an internal poll reported by Punchbowl News on Monday.
The poll from the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) found Paxton leading with 50% support to Cornyn’s 34%, with 17% undecided.
Paxton, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, officially announced his candidacy last month. He is positioning himself as a more pro-MAGA alternative to Cornyn, who hardline Texas conservatives have painted as a moderate. Cornyn, Texas’s senior senator, has held his seat since 2002 and served in Senate leadership. He was a leading contender to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as GOP leader, but eventually lost the race to Sen. John Thune (R-SD).
Cornyn faced backlash over his work in crafting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a gun safety law passed in 2022 after a massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The legislation included enhanced background checks for gun buyers under 21 and was the first major federal gun control measure in decades.
Punchbowl News reported in a hypothetical three-way GOP primary, Paxton leads with 44%, followed by Sen. John Cornyn at 34% and Rep. Wesley Hunt at 19%, according to an internal Tarrance Group poll conducted April 27 to May 1.
In general election matchups against potential Democratic challenger Colin Allred, Cornyn leads by six points.
