Texas Sen. John Cornyn maintained a financial edge over challenger Ken Paxton last quarter, helping him grow his cash advantage ahead of a tough primary fight.
Cornyn’s political operation raised $3.9 million compared with Paxton’s $2.9 million, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
The matchup between Cornyn and Paxton, the Texas attorney general, is the most high profile — and hostile — GOP Senate primary in the midterms. Polls show Paxton, the MAGA favorite, well ahead of Cornyn, the establishment pick whose Senate resume includes stints as GOP whip and head of its campaign arm. President Donald Trump has not yet endorsed a candidate.
Cornyn, a four-term incumbent, reported that roughly $800,000 was raised directly by his campaign, while another $3.1 million was raised by Cornyn Victory Committee, his joint fundraising group. But not all of that joint fundraising money will go directly to Cornyn’s campaign — at least $1.1 million of the funds raised by Cornyn Victory Committee exceed candidate donation limits and will go to other groups backing Cornyn instead, according to a POLITICO analysis.
That means the amount the Cornyn and Paxton campaigns themselves will receive from the last quarter of fundraising is about the same: a little under $3 million each. The other money raised by Cornyn will still benefit his campaign, just indirectly, because it will be sent to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has endorsed him, along with super PACs backing him.
Paxton’s haul came entirely through his campaign. Cornyn still has an advantage in cash on hand: His campaign alone reported $5.9 million in the bank compared to $2.5 million for Paxton.
