Texas GOP chair calls for end to negative ads in Senate runoff
John Cornyn (left) and Ken Paxton (Getty Images)
The leader of the Texas Republican Party is asking Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton to end their negative ad campaigns against each other in the days leading up to the runoff election.
Texas Republican Party chair Abraham George made the plea on social media Thursday morning.
What they're saying:
"As Chairman of the @TexasGOP, I’m calling on both Senate candidates to pull all negative advertising," George said on X. "It’s time to start preparing for November, and we can finish this runoff campaign on a positive note from both sides."
The move comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's endorsement of Paxton.
Paxton responded to the request, seemingly willing to lay down arms in the final days of the election cycle.
"We have already changed our TV ad traffic starting today to ensure our campaign ends on a positive note and that we can focus on beating the leftist lunatic in the fall," Paxton said. "I'm calling on Cornyn to do the same for the good of our party. Let's keep Texas Red!"
Fresh off the endorsement, Paxton's latest ad touts the endorsement and makes no mention of his opponent. A similar ad was released by the Paxton group Lone Star Liberty PAC.
The other side:
The Cornyn camp responded by saying they would not be dropping the negative campaign ads running against Paxton.
"I know you are desperate to avoid accountability, Ken," the campaign said in a social media post. "We need a few more days to burn in the fact that you plea bargained with a child sex offender, offering them only one day in prison and no sex offender registry as a favor to Nate Paul's lawyer."
A follow-up post from the campaign said they would "continue to tell the truth" about Paxton and that "judgment day" is coming.
Texas GOP Senate runoff is most expensive runoff in history
The highly contentious runoff between Cornyn and Paxton is the most expensive runoff election in U.S. history, according to political ad tracker AdImpact.
The agency reports that $25 million has been spent on ads during the runoff. Of the ad spend, $19.9 million has gone to Cornyn, while $5.1 million has been spent on Paxton.
The spend comes after Republican advertisers spent $100 million during the primary.
Texas Senate primary becomes most expensive in U.S. history as spending tops $110M
The Texas Senate primary is now the most expensive in U.S. history with more than $110 million being spent on advertising.
Early voting in the runoff election ends Friday. Numbers from the Secretary of State's office show nearly 300,000 Texans have already voted in the Republican runoff elections through Wednesday. More than 2 million Texans voted in the Senate primary back in March with more than half of those votes coming during the early voting period.
Runoff election day is Tuesday, May 26.
The Source: Information in this article comes from social media posts made by Texas GOP Chair Abraham George, Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Early voting numbers come from the Texas Secretary of State Office. Information on advertising spending comes from AdImpact.