Two Republican lawmakers who endorsed John Cornyn now back Ken Paxton in the tight Texas Senate race

Two Republican members of the Texas House who have butted heads with Ken Paxton and endorsed incumbent John Cornyn told CBS News Texas they are fully supporting the Attorney General in his race against Democratic State Representative James Talarico. 

Representatives Matt Shaheen of Prosper and Jeff Leach of Allen are from Collin County, Paxton's home turf. 

"I think the Republican voters spoke loud and clear that they preferred Ken Paxton," said Shaheen. "He won overwhelmingly in the primary. We need to motivate our base, make sure that the Republican base gets out. Ken Paxton has clearly demonstrated that he can get our Republican base out. So, we look forward to helping him out and doing everything we can to get him and all of our awesome Republican candidates across the goal line."

"Primaries are a time for us to pick our roster, to pick our candidates, to kind of have our family fights if you will," said Leach. "But once the slate is chosen, which the voters of Texas have done, it's incumbent upon us and for all Republicans to get out and support the ticket from the top to the bottom. So, it's never a question for me. We know who our candidates are headed into November, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure every single one of them, from the top to the bottom, is elected."

Shaheen and Leach were among the 60 House Republicans who voted to impeach the Attorney General in May 2023. Leach was also an impeachment manager who spoke during Paxton's trial in the Senate. The Attorney General had been at odds with them ever since. Paxton was acquitted on all articles and strongly denied any wrongdoing. The Attorney General then campaigned against Shaheen and Leach in their respective Republican primaries. 

When asked if they had spoken with Paxton recently, Leach said, "I've reached out, and I haven't heard back yet. But I'm hopeful that he'll contact me soon." 

Shaheen said, "I had a brief conversation with Attorney General Paxton. It was brief. He's busy as you can imagine. He's hard to get a hold of. But we had the opportunity to speak just for a couple of minutes, and we committed to support each other and told him that me, and all the Republican representatives in Collin County, are going to do everything we can to get him across the goal line." 

"We're talking about having a big get-out-the-vote event," Shaheen added. "So, it was a brief conversation, but it was really positive. We're united to make sure our entire slate wins in November."

Paxton's campaign advisor, Nick Maddux, sent CBS News Texas a statement, saying, "We are grateful for the support of State Representatives Shaheen and Leach. We all share the same goal: keep Texas red from the top of the ticket all the way down. We look forward to working with them to accomplish that goal."   

Both Shaheen and Leach have blasted Talarico's past votes and statements and said they hope Cornyn's supporters will vote for Paxton in November. 

"I've heard of some that plan to maybe just not vote in the race," said Leach. "That in and of itself is a vote for Talarico." 

"Ken Paxton stands strong in protecting women's privacy," said Shaheen. He stands strong in protecting our jobs and our economy. He's clearly the person to vote for this November."

The stakes are very high in the Senate race. 

The four most recent independent polls on the Texas Senate race show it's a dead heat between Paxton and Talarico. The average of those polls taken between June 1 and June 21 shows Paxton leads Talarico by 1.3 percentage points, 45.8% - 44.5%. The Cook Political Report rates this race as "Lean Republican." 

Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming

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