ON THE HUNT: Texas Rep. Shakes Up Senate Race

Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, entered the Lone Star State’s 2026 Senate GOP primary on Monday, altering the dynamics of Sen. John Cornyn’s re-election bid.

The two-term Hunt, who has represented his Houston-area district since 2023, kicked off his campaign with a three-minute video full of testimonies from friends, family, and colleagues.

“He has a lot of integrity. He has a lot of character. When he tells you he’s going to do something, he absolutely follows through and does it,” Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., says in the kickoff video.

Hunt is entering an already fiercely contested primary between Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Cornyn, who has represented the state in the Senate since 2003 and once was a top candidate to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the Republican leader in the Senate.

Both of those candidates have been vying for President Donald Trump’s endorsement and have challenged each other’s conservative bona fides. 

By highlighting Crane, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, as a supporter in his kickoff video, Hunt may be attempting to emphasize his own conservative credentials.

It does not appear that Hunt will get any support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) as he takes part in an attempt to unseat a longtime incumbent.

“John Cornyn is a battle-tested conservative who continues to be a leader in delivering President Trump’s agenda in the U.S. Senate, and he’s the best candidate to keep Texas in the Republican Senate majority,” Joanna Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the NRSC, said in a stern statement shortly after Hunt’s announcement. 

“Now that Wesley Hunt has chosen personal ambition over holding President Trump’s House majority, there will be a full vetting of his record. Senator Cornyn’s conservative record of accomplishment stands tall against Wesley’s,” Rodriguez added.

Hunt’s campaign directed The Daily Signal to a statement in which the Texas congressman said the race “must be about more than a petty feud between two men who have spent months trading barbs. With my candidacy, this race will finally be about what’s most important—Texas.”

Hunt also appeared to take a shot at the Republican establishment, stating, “Bureaucrats in D.C. do not choose Texas’ leadership; Texans do. This race will be settled by Texans, not entrenched political figures from inside the Beltway.”

A September poll from One Nation, a group that supports Cornyn, found the incumbent leading with 32% in a then-hypothetical three-way matchup against Paxton at 31% and Hunt, at 17%.

The Texas Republican Senate primary is set for March 3, 2026. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, it would trigger a runoff election on May 26. Mail-in voting for the primary starts on Jan. 1.

Hunt’s impending departure from the House is part of a major reshuffling of Texas’ congressional map going into the midterms. A recently passed redistricting bill could lead to almost a half-dozen Democrat seats flipping red in the midterms, and Republican Reps. Chip Roy, Michael McCaul, and Morgan Luttrell will not be seeking re-election.

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