Texas Dems Mock Cornyn for Plan to Name
Highway after Trump in Endorsement Quest
Capitol Inside
May 13, 2026
The Texas Democratic Party sought to give Attorney General Ken Paxton a boost on Wednesday for a GOP runoff with U.S. Senator John Cornyn when it portrayed the Republican incumbent as a hapless lackey for a plan to name an interstate highway after President Donald Trump.
"While Texans struggle to afford the price of gas, our Senior Senator is focused on renaming highways," the TDP said in a post on X with a picture of an open road with Trump and Cornyn faces hoivering above it. "As gas prices soar, Cornyn proposes renaming US 287 after Trump."
The Democrats have been rooting for Paxton as the Republican who they think James Talarico would have the best shot to beat in the general election. But Cornyn's push to establish a so-called Truimp Interstate appeared to be more of a desperation Hail Mary than a serious proposal in a frantic quest for an endorsement from the president before he faces Paxton in a primary runoff election on May 26 for the GOP nomination in the Texas Senate contest.
Even since Trump promised to take sides in overtime in the Senate runoff here, Cornyn and Paxton have both tailored their campaigns first and foremost for the sake of impressing Trump and demonstrating the vast extent of their unconditional loyalty to him during the past decade. But Paxton is the only one of the two who's stood up to the president - vowing to stay in the Senate race after Trump said he would make an endorsement in the race in Texas where he'd demand that the candidate who he turned against withdraw from the competition immediately.
Trump appeared to be on the verge of endorsing Cornyn for several days after the primary election on March 3 when Cornyn led the AG by 1.5 percentage points in a field of eight. But Trump backed off after Paxton, who's been a major ally and frequent visitor at Mar-a-Lago, said he'd only consider pulling the plug on his campaign if a voting restrictions measure cleared the upper house of Congress. Paxton appeared to be in the race for good, however, amid widespread speculation that the Save America Act was going nowhere anytime soon in the Senate.
Cornyn has tried everything his campaign could conceive to win an official plug from the president before the runoff vote, which gets under way with the start of early voting on Monday. Trump has been content to let the 24-year Senate veteran grovel for the past two months - and he teased an endorsement for the runoff again late last week.
With Paxton as the betting favorite in the runoff with a lead of almost 5 points on average in a dozen polls on the runoff, Cornyn appeared to realize that the best way to get the president's affection would be to put his name on something that a significant number of Americans would see every day. Cornyn may have gotten the idea for the highway from Florida's Republican lawmakers passed a bill to rename the airport in Palm Beach as Donald J. Trump International.
There's the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom that's under construction at the White House. Trump said last week that the ballroom would cost twice as much as the $200 million original price. But he assured Americans that it was still under budget. The Triumphal Arc that the president plans to erect in Washington D.C. is commonly referred to the Arc de Trump. The current president's face will appear on some U.S. passports.
But Cornyn isn't the first Trump admirer to try to name a highway after him. The Republican-controlled Legislature in Florida approved legislation to rename State Highway 80 there as the President Donald J. Trump Highway. The name changes takes effect July 1. The highway is 123 miles long and links Fort Myers to Palm Beach.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill in 2021 that designated a 20-mile stretch of U.S. 287 near the Texas border as the President Donald J. Trump Highway. Cornyn may be the first to attempt such a move with federal legislation. But Cornyn declined to mention in his announcement on the Trump Interstate that it's a largely symbolic and futuristic move that provides no funding and would be contingent on congressional approval.
"I am proud to introduce legislation to rename US Highway 287 as Interstate 47 in honor of our 47th President," Cornyn said. "My bill will upgrade one of our nation’s longest highways to a future interstate and save more than $5 BILLION in travel costs, all while honoring the most effective and influential president of our lifetime. Texas is Trump Country & this bill cements @POTUS legacy by designating nearly 1,800 miles of open road to forever be known as the Trump Interstate."
more to come ...
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