HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) \u2014 Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that a Texas Republican\u2019s seat may flip blue if he loses an upcoming primary election.<\/p>\n
Thune told Politico <\/a>in a recent interview that the seat held by Senator John Cornyn, who was first elected in 2002, could go to a Democrat if he is defeated by state Attorney General Ken Paxton in next week’s primary.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, if you look at the polling in a general election setting, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s outside the realm of possibility that the seat [flips], depending on who the Democrats nominate,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n A survey <\/a>conducted by Emerson College last month found Cornyn performing better than Paxton against both of the Democratic candidates, U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett<\/a> and state Representative James Talarico. Cornyn leads Crockett and Talarico by a few percentage points, while Paxton is even with the candidates.<\/p>\n The last time a non-incumbent Texas Democrat won a Senate seat was 1970.<\/p>\n Thune endorsed <\/a>Cornyn last year, when he called him \u201cone of the most effective and respected conservative leaders in the country” who has helped build Republican majorities. Cornyn has also expressed concern over the effect a Paxton win could have on the GOP\u2019s current Senate makeup, writing in a social media post<\/a> on Tuesday that \u201cwe cannot afford to gamble that away.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor decades, Texans have worked to build a strong Republican majority and a conservative future, and Senator @JohnCornyn is proud to be a part of that,\u201d his campaign team wrote on X.<\/p>\n Paxton has accused Cornyn of fearmongering and said Friday that his opponent doesn\u2019t care about maintaining the majority.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Democrats’ biggest ally in this race is the kamikaze campaign Cornyn’s running. He’s desperate, he knows he is going to lose, and his only only goal is to hurt me and the party,\u201d Paxton posted <\/a>on X.<\/p>\n Both Republicans have wanted an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who could impact their chances but has stayed out of the race<\/a>. Trump told reporters last week that he likes Cornyn, Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt, who is trailing his opponents in the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are the toughest races. They\u2019ve all supported me, they\u2019re all good, and you\u2019re supposed to pick one, so we\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n \u201cBut I support all three.\u201d<\/p>\n A candidate in the primary election needs to win half of the vote. None of the Republicans are polling close to that share, so a runoff is likely.<\/p>\n