Former President George W. Bush and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are teaming up to raise money for Senate Republicans nationwide, but they’ve pointedly left one candidate off the guest list: Ken Paxton, the GOP’s own Senate nominee in their home state of Texas.
Cornyn is hosting a Monday evening fundraiser in Dallas benefiting six Republican Senate candidates through a new joint committee called Maintain the Majority, according to an invitation obtained by the New York Times. Bush is attending as a “special guest.” Paxton previously defeated Cornyn in a costly primary fight earlier this year, and neither he nor his campaign was included in Monday’s event or would comment when asked about it.
The snub lands as Paxton continues trailing Democratic opponent James Talarico in polls and fundraising, even as outside groups aligned with President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have committed tens of millions of dollars to advertising on his behalf across the state. Paxton has long been a divisive figure even within his own party: Texas House Republicans impeached him on corruption charges back in 2023, though the state Senate later acquitted him, and he subsequently campaigned to remove GOP lawmakers and judges who’d crossed him.
Cornyn hasn’t held back criticizing his former rival publicly.
“Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Cornyn told the Texas Tribune in August. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election.”
Paxton pushed back on Fox News, insisting he works 18-hour days and that Cornyn simply doesn’t know his schedule.
The rift reflects a broader civil war brewing between old-guard Bush Republicans and the Trump-aligned wing of the party that Paxton represents. Just last week, longtime Bush adviser Karl Rove announced he wouldn’t vote for Texas Railroad Commission nominee Bo French over a racist social media post, prompting Trump to call Rove a “stone-cold loser” on Truth Social after Paxton declined to condemn French himself. Paxton has also previously clashed publicly with Rove and decisively defeated Bush’s own nephew, George P. Bush, in the 2022 attorney general primary.
The fundraiser’s host committee reads like a who’s who of Bush-era Republican royalty, including former Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, ex-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and megadonor Harlan Crow, with entry requiring contributions between $1,000 and $61,500. Beneficiaries include Sens. Susan Collins, Jon Husted and Dan Sullivan, along with Senate candidates John E. Sununu, Ashley Hinson and Mike Rogers.
Notably, Paxton isn’t the only Trump-backed nominee left out. Michael Whatley of North Carolina and Mike Collins of Georgia, both running in states Trump carried in 2024, were also excluded from the fundraising push, as Democrats have shown surprising polling strength in both races.
Collins campaign spokeswoman Blake Kernen confirmed the senator welcomes the establishment support, while representatives for the other beneficiaries didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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