Trump has yet to support one candidate over the other, and he is largely not expected to do so before primary voters cast their ballots. Trump told White House reporters on Air Force One last week that he supports each of the candidates, and he hadn’t “made a decision on that race yet.”

“They’ve all supported me, they’re all good, and you’re supposed to pick one. So we’ll see what happens, but I support all three,” Trump said.

Cornyn, the four-term incumbent who boasts the support of Senate leadership, is in a neck-and-neck race with Paxton, a conservative hardliner with the backing of several major MAGA players such as Steve Bannon. The two Emerson College polls released on the race have Cornyn and Paxton within one point of each other, with the most recent January survey flipping to give Paxton the one-point edge over Cornyn.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called Cornyn “one of the most effective and respected conservative leaders in the country” when endorsing him nearly a year ago. Bannon told Politico he sees Paxton as “a symbol of the heart of the grassroots MAGA movement.”

With the candidates seemingly in an expensive dead heat, if no candidate gets a majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two will occur on May 26.

Cornyn discussed the possibility on Wednesday, warning that it could threaten the GOP’s hold on the seat.

“There’ll be a 10-week runoff between me and the attorney general. Unfortunately, the attorney general’s got so much baggage and corruption in his wake that he will jeopardize keeping the seat red in November,” Cornyn said during a Fox News interview. 

TRUMP ENDORSES TEXAS REPUBLICANS BUT LEAVES OUT DAN CRENSHAW

On the Democratic side of the race, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) and State Rep. James Talarico are also in a closely-watched primary, with Talarico leading by 9 points in the latest Emerson College poll.

Early voting in the Lone Star state began on Feb. 17. The state is a midterm election litmus test, as the first state with a regular cycle primary election in 2026.