THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is not up for election this year, but he is campaigning across his home state as though he is.
Rather than pitching himself, Cruz is making a spirited case for the Republican Senate bid of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cruz, a conservative firebrand, is trying to rally the party’s base in a year where Republicans fear many of their voters will stay home. He has poured money into supporting Paxton, introduced the attorney general to his large network of donors and even gave him sartorial advice after President Donald Trump mocked the Paxton’s appearance despite having endorsed him.
“Unlike President Trump, I’m not going to comment on his wardrobe,” Cruz quipped at a recent Paxton rally in Houston. “I have advised him to go out and buy a bunch of Trump ties and just tie them real long.”
Republicans are facing a uniquely competitive Senate race in a state that Democrats have longed dreamed of turning blue. Paxton, laden with personal and legal scandals, has lagged behind Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in fundraising and most public polls.
In a sign of their concern, National Republicans are upping their involvement: Outside GOP groups have invested more than $200 million in ads going into the general election, and Trump and Vice President JD Vance have stumped for Paxton in Texas, including during a national party convention in Dallas.
In addition to Cruz’s appearances on the trail, Truth and Courage PAC, a Cruz-aligned super PAC, has spent more than $2 million in ads for Paxton.
If Paxton prevails, Cruz’s heavy investment in the race could pay off as he considers a 2028 presidential bid, earning gratitude from fellow Texas Republicans and impressing GOP primary voters beyond its borders. Tying himself so closely to Paxton carries some risk if he loses in a state in which no Democrat has won a Senate race in nearly 40 years. But even if Paxton loses, Cruz will have still stepped up beyond the usual expectations for an incumbent to help his party in the state.
For years as Texas’s junior senator, Cruz was seen as the more vulnerable Republican in the state compared to the more tonally moderate Sen. John Cornyn. Despite high approval among conservative voters, Cruz’s two reelection campaigns attracted fierce challenges from Democrats, including a near loss in 2018 to former congressman Beto O’Rourke.
But in this year’s race, where Paxton’s controversies have divided the party, Cruz is using his popularity among conservatives in Texas to try to keep the Republican coalition together.
That’ll be particularly important after Paxton defeated Cornyn in a brutal primary where Senate Republicans and other Cornyn allies spent more than $90 million in his defense and attacked Paxton as unfit for office.
“That does damage,” Cruz said of the primary efforts against Paxton. “Paxton didn’t have the money to counteract that. It’s the reason why I got very engaged on the fundraising side because you cannot win a race if you’re being outspent 10 to one.”
Paxton reported more than $10 million in contributions to his campaign from July to September on Thursday, his best ever fundraising haul. Talarico, however, reported more than $60 million during that period.
Cruz’s involvement in the midterms this year also extends beyond Texas — he has rallied or plans to rally for his fellow Republicans in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alaska, Michigan and Kansas. Such moves are typical of presidential hopefuls from both parties seeking to bolster their alliances nationwide.
Cruz has repeatedly teased a run for the White House once Trump is no longer on the ticket, at times exchanging barbs with Vance, who is widely seen as a Republican presidential front-runner.
When asked about his heavy involvement in this year’s races, Cruz asserted he is focused squarely on maintaining a Republican Senate majority and deflected on how it could play into a presidential run.
“I am devoting every waking moment to fighting to hold the Senate and grow our majority in the Senate, and to hold the House and grow our majority in the House,” Cruz said in an interview. “The ’28 conversation will come for everybody, but it’ll come after the midterms.”
Cruz’s relationship with Paxton stretches back years. Cruz praised Paxton during his first race for attorney general in 2014. Cruz has continued to laud the attorney general for his more than 100 lawsuits against the Biden administration and consistent support for Trump, calling him the “best state attorney general in the entire country.”
Cruz hasn’t shied from the attorney general during his lowest points and defended Paxton during the attorney general’s 2023 impeachment in the Texas House. Paxton was impeached over allegations of bribery and abuse of office to help a friend’s legal situation. The same allegations, levied by his own senior staff, led to a federal investigation. The state Senate acquitted Paxton, and the Justice Department declined to pursue criminal charges.
When asked if tying himself closely to a candidate with so much baggage could risk his own political standing, Cruz said, “I’m tying myself closely to Texas.”
On the campaign trail, Cruz has also made the race a mission to save the state from a candidate he calls extreme. Cruz has ridiculed Talarico’s past comments on Christianity and immigration, saying the would be more fitting for Berkeley, California, than Texas.
“We are witnessing a hostile takeover of the Democrat Party, a Marxist and Islamist takeover that is really dangerous. And Texas is a battleground,” Cruz said.
When asked about Cruz’s active support of Paxton, Talarico’s campaign pointed to his remarks to the Austin American-Statesman editorial board, where the Democrat said: “The first thing I would do after winning this seat is schedule a meeting with Sen. Ted Cruz. He would be the senior senator from Texas, and I would hope to learn from him. I would hope to build a relationship with him, and I would hope to work with him to deliver for the people of our state.”
Cruz’s involvement this year is in stark contrast to Cornyn, who has backed away from the Senate race in his home state and continues to criticize Paxton as a lackluster campaigner. Cornyn’s disengagement has irked Paxton’s allies, who recognize Cornyn’s potential appeal to moderate voters — including those Cruz might not be able to reach.
“Will the middle of the road Republicans turn out? They need to,” said Hal Lambert, a Republican donor who hosted a September fundraiser for Paxton. “There needs to be some efforts by the mainstream Republicans in D.C. to get Cornyn to endorse.”
Cornyn has focused his efforts on fundraising for Senate races in other states. He said he will back the Republican ticket in Texas, though he has not recanted his criticisms of Paxton. Neither he nor Paxton responded to requests for comment.
Trump endorsed Paxton over Cornyn shortly before a primary runoff between the two. Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday that Cornyn’s continued distaste for Paxton was to blame if Paxton loses.
Cruz remained neutral in the primary and urged his party to rally around Paxton after the runoff. Having Cruz, who has support across the state GOP, out for Paxton going into the general “is showing that the Republican Party is behind him,” said Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), who endorsed Paxton in the primary.
“Every Republican in Texas should be behind Ken Paxton right now, regardless of what you thought about the primaries,” Gill said.
Still, Cornyn’s loss has remained an open wound for many Republicans in the state who have struggled to get over Paxton’s past scandals, said John Huffman, a former mayor of Southlake, Texas, and a Cornyn ally.
“Unity doesn’t come, in politics or any other relationships, because one person deems it important,” Huffman said. “Unity comes from restoring relationships, and there are a lot of broken relationships.”
Huffman, a lifelong Republican, said he would not vote for Paxton and hadn’t decided whether to vote for Talarico or leave the ballot blank.
Cruz expressed confidence Republicans will hold on to Texas, so long as they get their message out and get Republican voters to the polls.
But he acknowledged success for his party will be a full-court effort and the race was currently “effectively tied.”
“The consequence of losing Texas would be massive,” Cruz said. “I’m all in.”
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