<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico stated he would "absolutely" welcome an endorsement from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in his Senate campaign against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m running for his seat in the U.S. Senate, and you know, whether he endorses me or not, I will seek his counsel,” Talarico told MS Now on Monday. “I will seek his guidance in doing this big, important job.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cornyn has not endorsed his party's nominee after competing against Paxton in a primary and runoff earlier this year. Cornyn narrowly won the primary, securing the first spot in the runoff by just 1.5 percentage points. However, after receiving support from President Donald Trump, Paxton defeated Cornyn in the runoff by 27.6 percentage points.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Currently, Cornyn appears unlikely to endorse Paxton over Talarico, having committed not to campaign for Paxton in June and previously describing the state attorney general as a "poor campaigner" and "lazy" in August.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In June, Cornyn told the Washington Examiner that he would still vote for Paxton, affirming his support for the ticket.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Paxton's campaign has garnered significant backing from national Republicans, with the Texas PAC, associated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), contributing nearly $120 million to Paxton's general election efforts. Despite initially endorsing Cornyn in the primary, Cornyn has maintained that he will not allocate his resources to support Paxton.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I think the risk for Republicans is if we nominate flawed candidates in November, we risk losing,” Cornyn told CNN last week. “We haven’t elected a Democrat in Texas statewide since, well, before 1994, and this is the way that majority parties become minority parties: by nominating candidates that are less than appealing to a general election electorate.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Recent polls in the general election indicate Talarico leading by narrow margins, with one poll from September showing an even split. The Cook Political Report categorizes the race as a toss-up in a state where Trump won all three of his presidential races. In 2024, Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris by nearly 14 percentage points in Texas.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Washington Examiner has reached out to both Paxton’s and Cornyn’s teams for comment.</p>