Hunt Weighs Senate Run Bid, Posing Threat to Cornyn

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R), is reportedly weighing a bid for the U.S. Senate, which would pit him against both incumbent Senator John Cornyn (R) and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

Groups aligned with the Texas congressman have reportedly spent more than $3 million on ads statewide, including in Dallas, San Antonio and Waco, to introduce Rep. Hunt to voters far beyond his Houston base.

The March 3 primary is expected to be a difficult election, however, as Senator Cornyn faces floundering poll numbers in light of Attorney General Paxton’s infidelity controversy.

A June G1 Research poll indicated that Rep. Hunt faces low statewide name recognition after 63% of primary voters said that they were unfamiliar with him. Despite this, Rep. Hunt entering the race would prove to be a threat to Senator Cornyn as Attorney General Paxton polled at 41% of support and Senator Cornyn polled at 28% of support.

Sharing the numbers on social media, the attorney general wrote, "I think I know why John Cornyn is obsessively posting about me."

When put in a head-to-head race, Rep. Hunt also polls higher than Senator Cornyn, which could be disastrous if President Donald Trump (R) were to endorse Hunt and not the incumbent senator.

Political strategists estimate that Rep. Hunt would need at least $20 million to embark on a credible senate race. If he wants to be a threat, he would need to force the attorney general under 50% of support to secure a runoff election.

Any candidate wishing to run for the seat has a December 8 deadline.

“It’s years and years… of doing things, meeting people, getting media attention in the state, doing local TV interviews, local newspaper interviews, going to the county fair” said Brendan Steinhauser, Senator Cornyn’s 2014 campaign manager.

Steinhauser believes that Rep. Hunt entering the race late would test if money and the Texas Republican’s message can overcome time.