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Wesley Hunt Gives Cornyn and Paxton
Common Primary Foe with Senate Run
Capitol Inside
October 6, 2025
U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston threw a curve into the hottest race on the Texas ballot in 2026 when he launched a long-shot bid on Monday for the seat that U.S. Senator John Cornyn is fighting to keep in a field of Republicans that includes state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
A 43-year-old combat veteran who's Black, Hunt
said on social media that his Senate campaign would revolve on faith, family and freedom without degenerating into a war of words like the duel between Cornyn and Paxton has been from the moment the state's top lawyer entered the ring.
"The time is NOW," Hunt declared in a post on X.
"This race should be about more than a personal vendetta between two candidates, Hunt said in a separate post. "This race is, and will be with my candidacy, about Texas."
Hunt entered the U.S. Senate competition almost a month after State Rep. James Talarico of Austin emerged as a candidate for Cornyn's job in the Democratic primary that features the party's 2024 nominee against U.S. Senator Ted Cruz - former congressional member Colin Allred - as a contender next year as well.
Hunt has been eyeing a campaign for the Senate for several months while the incumbent slugged it out with Paxton throughout the summer months. But the second-term representative appeared more likely to seek re-election based on the odds he would encounter in a race for a promotion with a pair of opponents who are famous, armed with substantial sums of campaign cash and popular with President Donald Trump.
Paxton had a double-digit lead in the polling for several months before Cornyn began to surge in correlation with publicity about the Texas AG's personal woes after his wife who's a state senator filed for divorce on "biblical grounds" based on allegations of adultery and multiple mistresses on the side.
Cornyn has a substantial fundraising advantage with close to $8 million or more in cash on hand at the start of October based on statements from his campaign. Cornyn and Paxton had surpluses of $5.9 million and $2.5 million respectively in their campaign bank accounts at the end of June. Hunt in the meantime raised nearly $1.4 million in the first six months of 2025 when his officeholder and leadership PAC are calculated together. Hunt reported $3 million in cash in hand on June 30 - an amount that gave him a slight edge over Paxton at the time.
Hunt sought to portray himself as a breath of fresh air who would give younger voters a candidate who's not a product of the past. "Business as usual in Washington is over," Hunt contended. "The swamp has had its turn. President Trump proved the old guard’s time is up. Now it’s our turn: young, bold, unbought, and unafraid. We’re the generation that will live with these votes, and it’s time we lead them."
Hunt claimed that he's more conservative than two dozen Republicans colleagues in the Texas delegation to the U.S. House - an assertion that's disputable.
"I am the most conservative Texas legislator in Congress," Hunt added. "I was the first person in the country to endorse President Trump. I have listened to the people of Texas, and I will deliver. This race is about defending conservative values. My convictions do not waver, they do not falter, and I do not hesitate to act on what’s best for our state. I will fight for Texas as hard as I fought for our nation in combat. Washington, D.C. does not get to tell Texas what to do. D.C. does not choose Texas’s leadership, Texans do.
Hunt has received high scores from conservative groups like Heritage Action and the Eagle Forum. But Hunt was ranked 22nd out of 25 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House in ideology scores that GOVTRACK.us. compiled base on selective votes in 2024.
Hunt claimed the Congressional District 38 position initially in 2022 after it was drawn for him by GOP leaders and lawmaker in Austin after Texas picked up two more U.S. House seats based on explosive population growth in the previous decade.
Hunt emerged from the GOP primary in his debut as a candidate with 55 percent of the vote in a field with 10 contenders before defeating Democrat Duncan Klussman in the general election with 55 percent of the vote. Hunt ran unopposed in 2024 in the Republican primary before beating Democratic challenger Melissa McDonough with 63 percent of the vote last fall.
Hunt landed in heavily-Democratic Congressional District 18 on a new U.S. House map that the Republicans who control the Texas Legislature approved this summer in a controversial redistricting effort that's on trial now in a federal court in El Paso. But Hunt could have run again in CD 38 if he'd chosen to do so as a district that has no incumbent on the new map.
Hunt served eight years in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot who retired from the military with the rank of captain.
more to come ...
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