President Trump traveled to Texas on Friday ahead of next week’s U.S. Senate primary, where three Republican candidates will battle for the party’s nomination in the 2026 midterm elections.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) are challenging sitting Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) for the nomination.
Analysts predict a competitive, heated primary election.
Trump landed in Corpus Christi earlier on Friday.
Campaigns reported that Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt plan to attend Trump’s speech in Corpus Christi, with some adjusting campaign schedules to be present.
Just days before the high-stakes primary election on Tuesday, the candidates remain neck-and-neck in the battle for the Republican nomination, each striving to align closely with the president.
The president’s visit to Texas coincides with the final day of early voting. According to the White House, his remarks are expected to focus on energy and the economy.
“President Trump looks forward to returning to the great State of Texas this week to discuss the economy and tout his ‘Drill Baby Drill’ agenda,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.
The Republican Senate campaigns did not clarify whether the candidates were invited to the event, and the White House did not comment on invitations or attendees.
The U.S. Senate race in Texas will be closely watched in November.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) warned that the seat could flip to Democrats in the November election if the incumbent is defeated in the GOP primary, a scenario that would jeopardize the Republican majority in the upper chamber.
“Honestly, if you look at the polling in a general election setting, I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that the seat [flips], depending on who the Democrats nominate,” Thune stated recently.
Thune’s warning about Republicans holding onto the Texas Senate seat comes just days before voting concludes as Cornyn faces off against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) in the GOP primary. A runoff election will be held on May 26 if no candidate wins a majority.
Republican senators noted that Thune has worked behind the scenes to push President Trump to endorse Cornyn but so far without success.
Trump is set to travel to Texas on Friday to promote his energy and economic policies.
Cornyn and his allies have spent $64 million defending the incumbent in the race, while Paxton’s and Hunt’s allies have spent about $24 million.
Some Republicans fear that Paxton, who leads Cornyn in some polls, would prove divisive in a general election and could turn off independents or spur a significant Democratic turnout to flip the seat.
However, Republican strategists generally believe that Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) would need to be the Democratic nominee for Democrats to have a realistic chance of winning against Paxton.