NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A super PAC supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s 2026 primary challenge against longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn is showcasing the MAGA firebrand’s efforts in the Lone Star State’s high-stakes redistricting battle.
It’s the latest example of how the redistricting showdown in Texas is shaping what is likely to be one of the most bruising and expensive Senate races in next year’s midterm elections.
A digital spot by Lone Star Liberty PAC includes a compilation of cable news reports, and it highlights Paxton’s efforts to track down Democratic Texas lawmakers who fled the state to prevent the Republican-dominated legislature from voting on new GOP-crafted congressional maps in the red state that would create five more right-leaning congressional districts.
It includes a clip of Paxton pushing “to remove some of these legislators from office” and conservative media figures praising the attorney general’s moves. If also includes a photo of Paxton standing next to President Donald Trump, who remains neutral to date in the GOP primary battle.
TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL PAXTON INVESTIGATING BETO O’ROURKE
The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to keep control of its razor-thin House majority in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms.
SEN. CORNYN SUCCESSFUL IN URGING FBI TO TRACK DOWN FLEEING TEXAS DEMOCRATIC STATE LAWMAKERS
While the redistricting battle has spread to states across the country as Democratic governors in blue states and GOP governors in red states move toward rare mid-decade gerrymandering pushes of their own, the dispute in Texas is taking center stage in the GOP Senate primary.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, left, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who are facing off in the state’s 2026 GOP Senate primary, are showcasing their efforts to crack down on fleeing Texas Democratic state lawmakers. (Getty Images)
Texas-based veteran Republican strategist Tyler Norris told Fox News Cornyn and Paxton “are using every tool at their disposal to prove that they’re both dedicated to helping the Trump administration gain more seats in Congress for 2026.”
Cornyn spotlighted his urgent letter asking the FBI for help in tracking down the Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas. The senator’s move resulted in the FBI approving his request to locate the AWOL lawmakers.
“I am proud to announce that Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats,” Cornyn said in a statement. “We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities.”
But it remains unclear whether the FBI could actually return the lawmakers to Texas.
Paxton is also looking into whether two political action committees aligned with former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas may have violated state laws by assisting the state lawmakers who fled.
“Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto bribe will be held accountable,” Paxton said this week during a news conference.
O’Rourke came close to ousting Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterms before running unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He lost to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the state’s 2022 gubernatorial contest, and is considering jumping into the 2026 Senate race in Texas.
He’s been visible in his support for the fleeing Texas Democrats.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, who is considering a U.S. Senate run in 2026, is supportive of Texas Democratic state lawmakers who fled the Lone Star State in the redistricting dispute. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
And O’Rourke has pushed back against Paxton.
“The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five Congressional seats,” O’Rourke argued in a social media post Wednesday. “Let’s stop these thugs before they steal our country.”
Texas state Sen. James Talarico, who is also moving toward entering the Senate race, is among the Democrats who fled to Illinois to prevent the legislature from voting on the redistricting plan.
Since arriving in Illinois, Talarico has sat for a couple dozen interviews with media outlets across the country.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The only major Democrat who’s already announced his candidacy in the Senate race, former Rep. Colin Allred, is also supportive of the fleeing lawmakers.
But Allred, who is making his second straight bid for the Senate in Texas, has not been in the media spotlight to the degree of Talarico or O’Rourke.
