{"id":2651187,"date":"2026-08-28T13:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-cornyn-calls-ken-paxton-lazy-and-a-poor-campaigner-in-explanation-of-texas-campaign-trail-absence\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T13:55:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:55:25","slug":"john-cornyn-calls-ken-paxton-lazy-and-a-poor-campaigner-in-explanation-of-texas-campaign-trail-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-cornyn-calls-ken-paxton-lazy-and-a-poor-campaigner-in-explanation-of-texas-campaign-trail-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"John Cornyn calls Ken Paxton &#8216;lazy&#8217; and a &#8216;poor campaigner&#8217; in explanation of Texas campaign trail absence"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjohn-cornyn-calls-ken-paxton-lazy-and-a-poor-campaigner-in-explanation-of-texas-campaign-trail-absence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2651187&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is withholding fundraising support from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton&#8217;s campaign to replace him in the Senate, criticizing Paxton as &#8220;lazy&#8221; and a poor campaigner who struggles with fundraising and offers an unpersuasive case for election. This tension stems from their recent heated primary runoff, where Cornyn defended his seat against Paxton\u2019s MAGA-style campaign, which was endorsed by Donald Trump. Despite Paxton\u2019s significant fundraising efforts-over $9.2 million raised and $1.7 million in cash-Cornyn is focusing his resources on other GOP candidates and does not support Talarico\u2019s policies. The upcoming Senate race features Paxton against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, with polls indicating a close contest. Cornyn, now a lame duck, has more freedom to oppose White House policies and has expressed positive views about his reduced legislative role. Simultaneously occurring, Talarico\u2019s campaign has raised over $68.5 million. The article also mentions ongoing legal and ethical questions surrounding Paxton, including requests to unseal depositions related to these issues.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"965\">John Cornyn<\/a> (R-TX) is holding off on fundraising for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/texas\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"253\">Texas<\/a> Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ken-paxton\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"4370\">Ken Paxton<\/a> in his race to replace the senator in the upper chamber, calling Paxton \u201clazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPaxton\u2019s a poor campaigner,\u201d Cornyn <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/08\/28\/john-cornyn-ken-paxton-texas-fundraising-talarico-senate-race\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/08\/28\/john-cornyn-ken-paxton-texas-fundraising-talarico-senate-race\/\">told <em>the Texas Tribune<\/em><\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s lazy and doesn\u2019t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He\u2019s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it \u2014 we are where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4704219\/john-cornyn-calls-ken-paxton-lazy-poor-campaigner-texas-campaign-trail-absence\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>John Cornyn calls Ken Paxton \u2018lazy\u2019 and a \u2018poor campaigner\u2019 in explanation of Texas campaign trail absence<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4704029\/susan-collins-bucks-trend-incumbent-more-debates\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Susan Collins bucks trend as an incumbent pushing for more debates<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4702821\/battleground-republican-casts-prosecutor-opponent-soft-on-crime\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>\u2018She lets the worst criminals out of jail early\u2019: Battleground Republican casts prosecutor opponent as soft on crime<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tension comes after Cornyn and Paxton faced off in a heated GOP primary runoff earlier this year, in which the four-term senator sought to defend his seat, while Paxton ran a MAGA-style campaign bashing the incumbent\u2019s record. President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"4\">Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> endorsement played a crucial role in the matchup, as he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4574393\/trump-endorses-ken-paxton-ahead-texas-senate-primary-runoff\/\">ultimately <\/a>backed Paxton\u00a0before the election, having withheld his choice between the two Republicans for months.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> has reached out to Paxton\u2019s team for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paxton now faces Democratic state Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/james-talarico\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"17710\">James Talarico<\/a> in the Senate general election. The two are facing off in what will be one of the closest-watched races of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"11675\">2026 election<\/a> season. Cook Political Report lists the race<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4694781\/texas-iowa-senate-races-shift-democrat-cook-political-report\/\"> as a toss-up<\/a>, while <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/texas-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html\">recent polling<\/a> has shown the candidates within close single-digit margins of each other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the outgoing senator, who is known for his fundraising prowess, having amassed <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/candidate\/S2TX00106\/?cycle=2026&#038;election_full=true#total-raised\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/candidate\/S2TX00106\/?cycle=2026&#038;election_full=true#total-raised\">over $14.2 million<\/a> in fundraising dollars this year, is not putting his fundraising skills behind Paxton\u2019s campaign. He told the outlet that he will be fundraising for GOP candidates in New Hampshire, Michigan, and Alaska, but not for Paxton\u2019s race. He also told the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/08\/28\/john-cornyn-ken-paxton-texas-fundraising-talarico-senate-race\/\">outlet<\/a> that he does not support Talarico\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bitter primary and flared tensions over the Trump endorsement have left Cornyn as a lame duck, giving him more room to push back on or <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4670112\/cornyn-reaches-deal-doj-todd-blanche-nomination-vote\/\">negotiate with <\/a>the White House on policy from Capitol Hill. In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4662755\/john-cornyn-liberating-leverage-role-way-to-retirement\/\">June interview<\/a> with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, Cornyn <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4662755\/john-cornyn-liberating-leverage-role-way-to-retirement\/#google_vignette\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4662755\/john-cornyn-liberating-leverage-role-way-to-retirement\/#google_vignette\">called the position<\/a> \u201cliberating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4702370\/james-talarico-asks-court-unseal-ken-paxton-depositions-ethical-questions\/\">JAMES TALARICO ASKS COURT TO UNSEAL KEN PAXTON DEPOSITIONS ALLEGING THEY RAISE \u2018ETHICAL QUESTIONS\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paxton\u2019s campaign, as of the end of June, has garnered over $9.2 million dollars in campaign contributions and has over $1.7 million in cash on hand.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Talarico\u2019s team, on the other hand, has raised over $68.5 million, with over $21.5 million in cash on hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cornyn calls Paxton \u201clazy,\u201d withholds campaign support<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2651188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-collage-n3f2cae53-1781036107504-e1781039005917.jpg?1781021970&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33933,45064,38244,36457,37104],"class_list":["post-2651187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campaign-trail","tag-john-cornyn","tag-ken-paxton","tag-political-rivalry","tag-texas-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-collage-n3f2cae53-1781036107504-e1781039005917.jpg?1781021970&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2651187"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2651190,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651187\/revisions\/2651190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2651188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2651187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2651187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2651187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}