Cornyn says he's "confident in the outcome" in the Texas Senate race, tells Paxton to "brush up on the Ten Commandments"
Facing his toughest primary challenge yet, Texas Sen. John Cornyn said his fight against Attorney General Ken Paxton serves as a test.
"This is a test of character, and whether character still matters," said Cornyn.
Cornyn must defeat Paxton in the GOP primary in March if he wants a chance for a fifth term.
"What I hear from the Paxton camp is that all of the problems he's had, all the self-inflicted damage, he's inflicted on himself, that's all baked in the cake and the people don't care," Cornyn told Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink. "I believe that character does still matter, and I believe I've demonstrated I could be trusted and that I have been effective on behalf of the state of Texas."
Three recent primary polls have shown the race tightening, but the primary is still six months away. One of the polls that received a lot of attention is the one from Texas Southern University and YouGov released earlier in August. It shows Paxton leading Cornyn by five percentage points, 44% to 39%, with 17% saying they are unsure.
Cornyn said, "There is certainly some support for the Attorney General out there based on this perception that he is some sort of MAGA warrior and that he is favored even by President Trump. But I know President Trump well. I have worked with him closely for a number of years now. I know what he really cares about is his agenda and what he got elected on. We've already seen that the polls have moved closer together based on just some very simple messaging based on my voting record supporting President Trump."
Social media battle
Cornyn and Paxton have repeatedly taken shots at each other over social media. Last week, Paxton posted on X, "John Cornyn's not a MAGA Republican, but he plays one on TV."
Also last week, Cornyn responded to a post on "X" by Paxton, stating that he was directing Texas school districts to comply with a new state law that requires school districts to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in each classroom.
Cornyn said, "Might want to brush up on the Ten Commandments, Ken."
When asked what he meant about his comments and which of the Commandments he was referring to, Cornyn said, "All ten of them. I think this is indicative of the hypocrisy that we've seen from the attorney general, who pretends to be something he's not. I think we've been reminded time and time again from the impeachment, from the indictment for securities fraud, to the whistleblower lawsuit, and what he's done to his own family, that he is self-destructive, he's reckless, and he can't be trusted."
CBS News Texas reached out to Paxton's campaign to request an on-camera interview, but the campaign didn't respond.
Democrats jump in the race for Senate seat
In the Democratic primary, former North Texas Congressman and former Senate candidate Colin Allred and retired NASA Astronaut Terry Virts have jumped into the race so far.
Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke, current U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, and State Representative James Talarico of Austin are all considering entering the primary.
The Texas Southern University -YouGov poll found O'Rourke leading Allred by 20 percentage points, 58% to 38%.
