Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick warns Democrat James Talarico could win U.S. Senate seat if Republicans aren’t unified this November
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has sounded the alarm for the Texas GOP this fall.
He warned Republicans that if they don’t unite behind their winning nominee for U.S. Senate this November, either Senator John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton, they risk handing the seat over to Democrat James Talarico.
Patrick voiced his concerns last week before the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin.
“Folks, this is real,” he said.
Patrick called out Cornyn and Paxton, who are battling each other to win the Republican primary runoff on May 26.
“We have one nasty race, and I’m just going to call it for what is for the U.S. Senate, and it troubles me,” Patrick said. “I’m not blaming Cornyn, and I’m not blaming Paxton. I can blame both of them. But I wish they’d spend the next five weeks or six weeks, quite frankly, running positive ads on why they should be elected because it’s not helping our party by tearing each other apart.”
The lieutenant governor then challenged the Republican heavyweights to unite the party immediately after the election.
“John Cornyn, if you lose, you need to endorse Ken Paxton and get your voters to support Ken Paxton,” he said.
“And Ken Paxton, if you lose, you need to endorse John Cornyn and get your voters to support John Cornyn. Because if 10 to 15 percent of either of their sides don’t turn out and vote, James Talarico is going to win.”
Regardless of whether Cornyn or Paxton wins, the Cook Political Report shows Republicans are still favored to hold on to the Senate seat over the well-funded Democrat James Talarico. Democrats, though, have rallied around Talarico.
Patrick said, “So, he can’t get to over 50% unless Cornyn’s people or Paxton’s people decide to skip the race because they’re mad their guy lost. Get over it. Get over it and come together as one.”
He cited the results of the special runoff election in late January for an open state senate seat in Fort Worth, where Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss in a GOP-majority district.
“74,000 Republicans didn’t vote for her, and she lost by 14,000 because they stayed home,” said Patrick.
He blamed Republicans for not coming together after the first round earlier in January.
Patrick also predicted Wambsganss would beat Rehmet this November for the same seat, and he made one other prediction that made headlines if Talarico wins the Senate seat.
“We’re going to have a tough time holding the Texas House,” Patrick said. “I think our Senate is in good shape. I don’t take anything for granted, but I think our Senate is in good shape. But you’re going to have to help House members.”
House Speaker Dustin Burrows disagreed when he addressed the Texas Public Policy Foundation the next day.
“Just to be real clear, I’ve seen the numbers. We’re not going to lose the Texas House,” said Burrows.
But he agreed with Patrick’s main point.
“We have to be united this November. We’ve got to be working and rowing in the same direction. We have to be turning out voters,” said Burrows.
CBS News Texas reached out to both the Cornyn and Paxton campaigns for reaction and has yet to hear back from Paxton’s campaign. Cornyn’s campaign said, “We have a plan to win the runoff, and we are executing it.”
This week’s full episode can be found below:
