Cornyn talks Paxton, Senate race, Tariffs | Texas: The Issue is

The 2026 Senate race is shaping up to be complicated and difficult for current Sen. John Cornyn.

Last month, the senator announced he would seek a fifth term in Washington, but the announcement was met with pushback from one of Cornyn's loudest opponents, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Cornyn spoke with FOX 4's Steven Dial about his upcoming Senate reelection campaign and Paxton's comments.

Potential primary challenge from Ken Paxton

Sen. John Cornyn: Obviously, when you run for office, you get your papers graded. In my case, once every six years, and I'm looking forward to having that conversation and a little competition is okay too.

FOX 4's Steven Dial: After your campaign posted that video of you that prominently displayed President Trump, Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the question, "are you delusional?" 

He has not announced that he's running against you, but it seems like it. Do you have any response to the Paxton comment?

Cornyn: Not really. I don't see the point of addressing comments by somebody who's not a candidate. 

I'll wait until the primary field is identified. I expect a number of people will run in the primary. And I've always had a contested primary. 

Fortunately, the last one I had, I won by 76%. So when somebody decides to become a candidate, then I'll be happy to respond to what they have to say. But until then, I'll just withhold my comments.

Dial: What would you say in response to your past comments about President Trump before the November election?

Cornyn: Well, I would say President Trump was right, and I was wrong about his viability as a candidate in 2024. And I'm proud of my record supporting the president during his first term. I had a better voting record than 95% of the members of the U.S. Senate in terms of supporting President Trump and his policies. 

And now that the president has gotten a mandate from the voters on November the 5th, I think it's my responsibility as part of the majority party to support him and support his policies. So that's what I intend to do.

Tariffs

Dial: I know the president is using the negotiation tactic of tariffs. None have really stuck just yet. 

But do you think if he makes the threat of a tariff and actually follows through on it, could that hurt Texans and hurt Americans in the long run? 

Cornyn: When he says something, you better pay attention. Particularly during the campaign, where he said that the two biggest issues that he wanted to deal with were the open borders and inflation. 

And we are busy at work dealing with both of those issues, our Democratic colleagues said, "Well, you need to pass new laws in order to control the border."

And the truth, as it turned out, we just needed a new president who was determined to pass the law or enforce the law and to deal with the spending, which is a huge problem that most presidents have been unwilling to deal with. But this president, I believe, is. 

So there's always going to be some changes in a transition like this and maybe even some trepidation. People don't really know, okay, how's this all going to play out? But I'm confident that, given the passage of time, that people will be more reassured in his new policies, particularly on things like tariffs, where he said that reciprocity is the guiding principle that he expects other countries to treat us the way we treat them in terms of our open markets.

Department of Education

Dial: President Trump said that he hopes that Secretary McMahon is the last secretary of the Department of Education. Ultimately, the Department of Education dissolving would have to be an act of Congress. Why do you think it's important to dissolve that department?

Cornyn: Most of the education policy in the state of Texas and across the country doesn't occur in Washington, D.C. 

It occurs in local schools with parents and teachers and administrators and at the state level. 

I've been involved for many years as attorney general, and before that, even as a judge with dealing with some of the education issues in our state and, frankly, the federal government doesn't really add much other than additional layers of bureaucracy and red tape. 

And to the extent that there are functions that need to be performed, those can be delegated to other agencies. So, this has been something that presidents have talked about. Candidates for president have talked about it a long time. But as I said earlier, President Trump just doesn't talk about things. He actually does the things that he says he will do. And that's certainly true here.

Dial: Do you think if the Department of Education goes away, we could see some complaints fall through the cracks? If there's not much of a, I guess, checks and balances from an outside organization.

Cornyn: Well, you won't miss it when the Department of Education goes away. And I would point to you the dismal record of American student performance compared to their peers and around the world. And so something needs to change. And I hope this is the beginning of change which will allow our students to learn what they need to learn in order to compete in a very challenging global environment. It's just staying the course, I don't think is the answer.

Will Ken Paxton challenge Cornyn in 2026?

Paxton has not officially announced a campaign to challenge Cornyn in the 2026 Senate primaries, though he's dropped several hints.

In February, Paxton did an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson where he said he still hasn't decided if he'll run a primary campaign against incumbent Cornyn.

"I don't know if I'm running for sure. I'm looking at it," Paxton said. "Probably in the next few months I'll be talking to people around the state."

A February poll by the University of Houston showed a slight edge for Cornyn, with 75% of potential voters saying they consider voting for him versus 68% of voters saying they would consider Paxton.

READ MORE: 2026 US Senate: What new poll shows about possible Ken Paxton, John Cornyn race

Paxton has hinted at a possible Senate run since he was acquitted in his 2023 impeachment trial.

Cornyn spoke out against Paxton ahead of the political trial, saying he was troubled by the allegations against the attorney general.

After his acquittal, Paxton turned his sights against Cornyn.

Paxton has consistently referred to Cornyn as a RINO, or a "Republican in name only."

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