Staff Reports
Sen. Thom Tillis didn’t soften his words on CNN’s State of the Union. He told viewers that President Donald Trump “made a colossal mistake” by backing Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas primary. Tillis warned that the move has made the Texas Senate race far more expensive and far less certain for Republicans — and he’s not wrong.
Tillis Calls Out President Trump
Tillis said on air that John Cornyn was a proven senator and that Paxton “has his challenges.” He went further, saying the party “would not be spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas if Cornyn had won.” That blunt assessment is hard to argue with. Cornyn voted with Republican priorities nearly every time. Paxton, by contrast, carries baggage that makes a once-safe seat a battleground.
A Costly Choice for the GOP
The numbers and polls tell the same story Tillis described. Once the incumbent lost in the primary, the race in Texas tightened. Fundraising has surged and outside groups are pouring money in. That is the practical cost of swapping a steady incumbent for a nominee with a long record of legal and ethical controversies. If your playbook values winning, this kind of move looks like a miscalculation — not a victory lap.
Loyalty Tests Hurt the Party
Tillis’s critique also gets at a bigger problem: loyalty oaths that override electability. The party can admire loyalty, but loyalty does not always win elections. When leadership decisions replace safe picks with risky ones, the result is not “purity,” it’s vulnerability. Republicans should remember that governing power comes from winning seats, not handing out stamps of ideological purity. Call it inconvenient pragmatism, if you like.
Where Republicans Should Go From Here
The fix is plain: prioritize winnable races and put resources where they matter. If Georgia and Ohio already need attention, Texas now does too because of this endorsement decision. That means the NRSC and donor networks must plan for heavy spending — and the Trump operation should think twice about turning every primary into a referendum on loyalty. The GOP needs to win back power. Fighting over who gets the purity prize while handing seats to the opposition is a luxury we can’t afford.
