Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, August 3, 2025
“There’s a real can-do spirit in Texas. How else could we survive the summer heat and turn it into rip-roaring growth and economic opportunity? Our optimism manifests in other ways, too. Like thinking that a Democrat could be elected our U.S. senator in 2026.
I’ve heard of heat causing hallucinations, but come on. We’re a far way from that. Living on Mars under Musk’s America Party might happen first.
But it’s worth the thought experiment to consider what would make for better American politics, and how Democrats could crack the door to a different future.
I should disclose: I am a longtime admirer of Sen. John Cornyn. I don’t know him personally, but he was in the Senate when I was a staffer for Sen. Richard Shelby nearly two decades ago. He’s Big John, a principled conservative, one of the rare birds who has eschewed our political toxicity to work across party lines on guns and immigration.
But the senator is down in the polls. Badly. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — impeached and nearly indicted in deep Red Texas, not in some Democratic stronghold — is outpacing Cornyn in next year’s Republican primary by 15 points. His wife recently filed for divorce following Paxton’s alleged affair paired with his preaching family and Christian values. This double-life only adds to our distrust of politicians.
Of course, we are a long way out, and politics has a way of surprising. Cornyn pulled in more cash last quarter, though politics is less about cash than you might think. Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton with half the funds in his first presidential bid. Joe Biden beat Trump with significantly less cash on hand in 2020. And so on.
Texas voters may actually prefer Paxton’s hard-right, ethically twisty, populist style of politics. It matches Republicans at the national level. Accusations of sexual and economic corruption haven’t deterred there either.
Meanwhile, Democrats have started lining up for a hypothetical Paxton matchup in the general election. It reminds me of 2016, when Democrats thought Trump would be a weak candidate to compete against. They think this is their shot. Former Congressman Colin Allred has announced. He’s joined by former astronaut Terry Virts and Mike Swanson. Beto O’Rourke is circling.
In my humble opinion, they are reading the opportunity wrong. Any person who goes to Congress with a D behind his or her name, no matter how reasonable or ethical or pragmatic, is a sure vote against the Trump agenda. That won’t stand in a state that, in 2024, gave Trump the second-largest margin of victory for any presidential candidate in Texas history. It’s that simple.