SAVE America Act becomes key issue in Texas GOP Senate primary between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton

What began on March 4 as the strong potential for a coveted endorsement from President Trump in the contentious clash between Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP Senate primary runoff, has morphed into a battle over the Senate filibuster and the election integrity bill called the SAVE America Act. 

Mr. Trump has said the legislation is his top legislative priority. Last week, Cornyn reversed his longstanding view to protect the filibuster, which creates a threshold of 60 votes to approve most legislation, to help the Senate pass the SAVE Act. 

In an op-ed for the New York Post, Cornyn said, "After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats' obstruction, through the Senate, and on the president's desk for his signature. ... I respectfully urge the remaining handful of my Republican colleagues still holding on to the old position that I used to share to reassess the new reality and update their thinking." 

Paxton responded in a post on X, saying, "John Cornyn did exactly what I predicted. In one week, I've made him more conservative than in the past 24 years."

This latest chapter of their bitter, nearly year-long battle all began to unfold after Cornyn surprised many when he came out on top in the March 3 primary over Paxton, 42-41 percent. The two had widely been expected to end in a runoff May 26, but polls had given Paxton the edge. 

After the primary, the Mr. Trump said he would endorse one candidate and ask the other candidate to immediately drop out. Many in Washington, D.C. and Texas believed Mr. Trump would back Cornyn. 

SAVE America Act becomes campaign flashpoint

Then Paxton changed the debate; He posted on X that he would consider dropping out if Senate Republicans agreed to end the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. 

The bill would require Americans to register to vote in person, and show either a birth certificate or passport as proof of citizenship. It would also mandate voters in nationwide to show photo ID at the polls. Supporters say it will prevent non-citizens from voting, and that proof of citizenship and voter ID are both overwhelmingly popular with the public. Opponents argue that millions of American citizens do not have a passport or easy access to their birth certificates, potentially excluding them from voting. 

The House Republican majority has passed the bill and it is pending in the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune has said he will take action on it this week. 

Paxton also changed the dynamic between Thune and the Mr Trump. For months, Thune and Senate Republican leaders had pressured Mr. Trump to endorse Cornyn because they believe Paxton as the GOP nominee would cost them the seat. Now, Thune is under greater pressure from the president to pass the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with CBS News Texas, Republican consultant Vinny Minchillo said Paxton's efforts paid off. 

"For the most part, Cornyn and Paxton, if you look at their voting record, despite the ads and everything they say, their voting records would be very, very similar in the Senate. I don't think there's any big things they would be apart on except for this. There's a perception that John Cornyn is holding up the SAVE Act, whether he is or not, we don't know. Then Paxton of course, very wholeheartedly in favor of the SAVE Act and to support President Trump. So, for the Paxton people, very smart move. It aligns him completely with President Trump and puts him across the table from John Cornyn," Minchillo said.

Cornyn has said he supports the bill. One of its authors, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, has said Cornyn has been on board from the beginning. But until last week, Cornyn was not willing to kill the filibuster to get it passed. 

Minchillo said it remains to be seen whether Cornyn's position will help him politically. "It's really tough because now we're starting to get into process things and voters don't like process things. I think voters want to know, 'gee, is Cornyn with Trump on this or not with Trump on this? Was he against Trump and now he's with Trump?' I think how that is messaged is really what voters are going to look at," he said.

Trump increases pressure on Thune, Senate GOP

Thune has said he does have the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster and pass the SAVE Act, nor enough support in his party to kill the filibuster. But Minchillo said the deal is on the table. 

"President Trump is a guy who usually gets what he wants, and he usually gets it from, especially from John Cornyn and from Ken Paxton. So, depending on what he wants, I think the president will get it. If I had a crystal ball, I think the president will get the SAVE Act passed. I think he will endorse John Cornyn, and I think he will get Ken Paxton out of the race," Minchillo said.

 Asked if that would annoy and possibly anger Texas Republicans who backed Paxton, Minchillo said. it could. "That's the test of Trump power. If Trump's going to have to explain this, he's going to have to sell this to Texas grassroots conservatives who were supporting Paxton. He's not going to be able to do this and just go, 'all right, we're done.' He's probably going to have to come to Texas and make a sale."

As for the primary results on March 3, Minchillo said he was surprised that Cornyn came out ahead of Paxton in what he described as a "whisker-close race."

"I was really surprised how poorly Paxton performed in his home county in Collin County," he said.

Paxton trailed Cornyn in Collin County for most of the night, but ended up winning by about 900 votes when all the ballots were counted. 

"That says to me a couple of things: He's got problems in Collin County. Certainly, Collin County knows him best. Both the good and the bad. I don't know if it extrapolates that to the whole state, but to me, that would be a red flag if I was the Paxton campaign," Minchillo said.

Paxton is going through a divorce with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney. Last  year, she announced on X, that she was seeking a divorce on "biblical grounds."

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