Texas Senate Primary Ads Heat Up

As the May 26 Republican Senate primary runoffs approach, a recent campaign advertisement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton targets Senator John Cornyn, specifically focusing on Cornyn’s previous remarks about immigration and border security.

The ad features a voiceover labeling Cornyn as an “amnesty advocate,” while including clips of the senator discussing immigration issues and the border wall.

One segment of the ad showcases Cornyn speaking at the 2013 Texas Public Policy Foundation Policy Orientation in Austin, an event hosted by Stephen Moore. During this appearance, Cornyn remarked, “The American people are caring people. I think if they understand that we’ve done our job in terms of maintaining security and maintaining law and order, they’ll find a way to deal with maybe the 12 million people or less that are here right now. They don’t necessarily have to go on a path to citizenship. I think people who have completed a period of probation will be given some kind of probation status where they can work here and stay in the United States.”

Another part of the ad brings up comments Cornyn made on January 12, 2018, in Weslaco, Texas. He stated, “I can tell you from first-hand experience that it makes no sense at all to build another giant wall between the United States and Mexico from sea to shining sea.”

The ad concludes with a voiceover claiming, “Cornyn: Good for illegal aliens, bad for Texans.”

This release follows an earlier ad from Paxton’s campaign, which highlighted Cornyn’s less-than-favorable remarks about former President Donald Trump, including his assertion that “President Trump fueled that illusion by repeatedly claiming that the election was stolen” and described Trump’s actions as “reckless.” The ad contrasts Cornyn’s comments with Paxton’s support for Trump’s 2024 campaign and his legal challenges regarding the 2020 election results.

Paxton has garnered backing from several elected officials and organizations, including members of Congress like Burgess Owens (R-UT), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Texas Congressman Steve Toth, who recently won the Republican primary for Texas’ 2nd Congressional District, defeating incumbent Dan Crenshaw.

In February 2026, Paxton announced investigations into several Texas school districts for allegedly facilitating student protests against lawful federal immigration enforcement, stating, “We will not allow Texas schools to become breeding grounds for radical left-wing open borders policies.”

Cornyn’s history on illegal immigration features opposition to significant border enforcement measures, particularly the concept of a physical border wall. He has previously expressed skepticism about the wall’s effectiveness, saying, “It’s naive to think that all you can do is put up barriers and people can’t go over them, through them, or around them.” He asserted, “I don’t think physical barriers alone are the answer to border security.”

He also supported all of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees, several of whom later impacted Trump’s immigration policies. This included judges who ruled on bail hearings for immigrants, blocking certain detention policies, and permitting immigration cases to proceed as class actions.

In a statement to Breitbart News, Paxton claimed Cornyn was “openly fighting Donald Trump on the border wall.” Reports emerged that Cornyn would advocate for new immigration legislation, suggesting he has “long supported employment-based immigration.” Back in 2017, he expressed doubt about Trump’s commitment to the wall, saying, “When I hear the president talk about the wall, I think he’s talking figuratively.”