Toss-up House GOP candidates rallying with Ken Paxton in Texas
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate,is scheduled to hold a rally in the Rio Grande Valley with several Republican candidates for key House seats,including Tano Tijerina and Eric Flores. Tijerina is challenging Democrat Henry Cuellar in the 28th District, while flores will face Democrat Vicente Gonzalez in the 34th District; both are viewed as strong opportunities for Republicans. The NRCC emphasizes that flipping these seats is crucial for expanding the GOP majority. Paxton’s candidacy is seen as potentially impacting other Texas congressional races due to redistricting, with concerns about his statewide underperformance based on some analyses, though he won his last statewide election comfortably. The Texas Senate race between Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is highly competitive and expensive. Under new district lines, former President Trump would likely have won Cuellar’s and Gonzalez’s seats in 2024 by significant margins. Paxton’s campaign underscores his support for conservative values, contrasting with Democratic opponents, and highlights his previous electoral success.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, is set to rally in the Rio Grande Valley with nominees for critical House seats.
Paxton will appear alongside Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina and former federal prosecutor Eric Flores, in addition to National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez, in McAllen on Tuesday, according to the event website.
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Tijerina is challenging Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) in the Laredo-based 28th District, while Flores will face Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) in the McAllen-area 34th District. Both seats are among the National Republican Congressional Committee’s best flip opportunities in the country, and Flores and Tijerina are considered two of the strongest Republican recruits this cycle.
“The road to holding and expanding the House majority runs straight through South Texas, where Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez are watching their political careers collapse,” NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “Tano Tijerina and Eric Flores are America First fighters who will retire self-serving career politician Cuellar, fire radical rubber-stamp Gonzalez, and finally deliver the strong, conservative representation South Texans deserve.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) campaigned partly on the premise that Paxton’s candidacy would jeopardize several Texas congressional seats, many of which were drastically altered during a round of redistricting in July 2025.
Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC for Senate Republicans, commissioned an analysis last year arguing that Republicans might only flip two of the five seats altered during redistricting, with both Gonzalez and Cuellar winning, if Paxton were the nominee because of his potential statewide underperformance.
That said, Paxton won his last statewide election in 2022 by about 10 points.
“South Texans have sent a clear message to Democrats that they believe in hard work, faith, family, and the American Dream. James Talarico would make life unaffordable and impose his radical left values. AG Paxton looks forward to sharing his message and expanding the map alongside Tano Tijerina and Eric Flores in the Rio Grande Valley,” Paxton spokesman Noah Jennings told the Washington Examiner.
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The Texas Senate contest is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive in the country, with Paxton taking on Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. Earlier this year, Talarico announced that he had raised $30 million during the second quarter. Paxton announced raising $9 million in the same time period.
Under the new lines, President Donald Trump would have won Cuellar’s and Gonzalez’s seats each by more than 10 points in 2024.
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