Rep. Wesley Hunt is warning Republicans not to repeat the mistake Democrats made by sticking with former President Joe Biden until it was too late, the Washington Examiner reported on Monday.
Hunt, who entered the GOP primary race for Texas senator in October in an effort to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, said that in his analogy the 73-year-old Cornyn is an unpopular, elderly incumbent seeking reelection despite signs he could lose, similar to Biden.
The 44-year-old Hunt, who was first elected to the House in 2022, claims that his age and his strong connections to President Donald Trump can help boost his campaign in the primary against Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
"It literally is the exact same scenario," Hunt told the Examiner. "And even the Democrats had to realize that Joe Biden was getting ready to lose, and had to make a quick switch in the witching hour."
He continued: "What the establishment and what the people in D.C. have to understand and what they have to realize is that, again, I didn't do this to spite John Cornyn. I didn't do this to spite Ken Paxton. I did this to give the people of Texas a true conservative alternative that can carry on the America First mantle for years to come."
The GOP primary is March 3, and if none of the three candidates secures a majority, the top two candidates advance to a May 26 runoff.
Hunt's entrance into the race two months ago has exacerbated an already contentious primary between Cornyn and Paxton.
The senator filed an open records request to find out if Paxton used taxpayer funds to pay for trips to meet his alleged mistress in September, and is generally making the case that Paxton is too scandal-ridden to win.
Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 and acquitted by the state Senate. Later, his wife, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce on biblical grounds.
Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is arguing that Hunt's entrance will cost the group millions of dollars to defend Cornyn that could be spent in Georgia and North Carolina.
Matt Mackowiak, senior adviser of the Cornyn campaign, said that "Wesley Hunt has missed 27% of House votes this year, when President Trump needed him with a narrow majority. He has passed one bill while in Congress. He's a legend in his own mind."
Mackowiak insisted that "John Cornyn is a workhorse, as everyone who has ever worked with him recognizes. While show ponies like Wesley Hunt tape podcasts and post on social media, John Cornyn keeps his head down, does the work, and achieves victories for Texas."
In the interview, Hunt brushed off the attacks, saying his background as a West Point graduate and Apache helicopter pilot trained him for party infighting. "This is Texas, and Texas's leadership is not going to be picked by the NRSC ... or anybody else. The people of Texas are going to be the ones that decide that."
A December poll from J.L. Partners showed Paxton leading the primary at 29%, while Cornyn and Hunt were tied at 24%.
Hunt has pointed out that, in addition to Trump, many of the most high-profile Texas Republicans have not weighed in on the race, noting that Sen. Ted Cruz has "not endorsed in this primary. The governor has not endorsed in this primary. The lieutenant governor has not endorsed in the primary."
Hunt reiterated that "no one has endorsed a 20-year incumbent in this race, which means that everybody understands, but nobody wants to really say it out loud, in the Republican primary, John Cornyn is done ... and it's time to move on and pass this baton on."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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