Our recommendation in U.S. Senate GOP runoff

The runoff between Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton has degraded every Texan. Both candidates have led with messaging that’s demonstrated a disregard for truth and decency we wouldn’t expect even in a bitter race between rivals from opposite parties. 

To get to a recommendation, we must set aside what has happened over the last few weeks and look at the longer record. 

Based on that, there is no question Cornyn is the superior candidate. Paxton is simply unfit for office. Credible allegations of personal and professional corruption have chased him throughout his career.  

Cornyn, meanwhile, has an honorable conservative record in public office and has led a life that reflects the values so many Republican voters say they support. He is among the most prolific legislators in the Senate. An online bill tracker lists more than 1,500 pieces of legislation he has sponsored. He has seen more than 200 bills sponsored or co-sponsored become law.  

Many of those have focused on lowering taxes, controlling spending, promoting law and order, reducing regulatory burdens on businesses, protecting energy cultivation, supporting farmers and securing the border.  

We are unaware of any personal scandal that has followed Cornyn. His life has been upstanding, and even those who disagree with his politics can acknowledge his commitment to his family means something. Shouldn’t the way a person acts matter as much as what he says? 

In politics, Cornyn long had a reputation as someone who went to Washington to govern.  

His critics now focus on the times he reached across the aisle to find compromise on difficult issues. That’s called governing. It’s something Congress used to do.  

In response, and for his political survival, Cornyn has become too quick to accept the worst of what the Trump administration has to offer. A clear example is his support of Kash Patel as director of the FBI. We can’t believe that, earlier in his career, Cornyn would have accepted someone so plainly unfit for such an important job.  

But in the Republican Party now, anything other than blind loyalty to President Donald Trump spells political doom, and Cornyn plainly made the decision to try to stay in the game at what we see as a cost to his character.  

Some GOP primary voters are going to be swayed by the argument that Cornyn’s vanishing history of independence is a reason to vote for Paxton. They would be wrong. 

There is a clear political reason for every Republican to vote for Cornyn. Putting him at the top of the ticket instead of Paxton would likely shut the door to a strong challenge from Democrat James Talarico. Whatever the GOP base may believe, there are many conservative Texas voters who will either vote against Paxton or stay home to avoid voting for him. Electing Paxton puts Texas in play for the left, period.  

It’s shocking that Paxton is a viable candidate. Apart from the screaming issue about his character, his service in office has not reflected conservatism. He is a trial lawyer’s dream. He makes life hell on otherwise good businesses that create jobs by suing them for the thinnest reasons. Then he outsources the lawsuits to firms that stand to ring up big paydays. He sued Johnson & Johnson over the totally unsupported claim that Tylenol is linked to autism. This month, he sued Netflix for “spying on Texans.”  

During Paxton’s tenure as attorney general, the office has become a laughingstock among serious lawyers for poorly drafted suits and fleeing talent. Under Cornyn it was one of the most admired offices in the country, a place where talented young attorneys built careers while representing the state.  

Cornyn’s years as a Texas Supreme Court justice and senator have been marked by a grounding in conservative, constitutional principles and a respect for the rule of law. 

Paxton has demonstrated little respect for the law or for the values he pretends to represent. It’s a shame for democracy that voters now accept such open hypocrisy in the name of sticking it to the other side. We must hope it’s a decision that, at some point, brings consequences at the ballot box. 

We do believe that Cornyn will come to regret what he and his campaign have stooped to in order to remain in office. We include his last-minute pander to Trump’s ego, pledging to name an interstate in Texas for a man who has hedged his bet by endorsing neither Republican in the runoff. 

But even with those reservations, we must give Cornyn our strongest recommendation based on his record. He is the better public servant and better person in this race.

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