Texas Republicans handed Sen. John Cornyn one of the most humiliating defeats in the state's modern political history in this year's primary runoff.A week after being clobbered by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, he is amplifying a Libertarian candidate, in an apparent attempt to siphon conservative votes from Ken Paxton in the general election in November.

In a post on X, Cornyn shared a Houston Public Media interview profiling Libertarian nominee Ted Brown, whose 2026 Senate campaign is built around courting conservatives dissatisfied with the Republican primary results.

The article itself makes it very clear that Brown has the potential to be a spoiler for Paxton. "Most polling shows Texas' U.S. Senate race between state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate, and Austin state Rep. James Talarico, his Democratic opponent, as extremely close," it opens. "That potentially creates an opening for a third-party candidate, Libertarian Ted Brown, to shape the outcome."

Rut rohLibertarian Ted Brown courts disaffected conservative voters in Texas' U.S. Senate race - Houston Public Mediahttps://t.co/wZ9ipRviE1

Brown pulled more than 267,000 votes in the 2024 Texas Senate race, a record performance for a Libertarian candidate in the state, and Cornyn just handed him a megaphone.

Cornyn had initially signaled he would fall in line behind the GOP nominee.

"I've spent most of my time in the Senate building the Republican party in Texas and in the U.S. Senate, and I've always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again in this general election," he said when he addressed his supporters last week after the election results. "I've said throughout this race that I trust the voters of Texas, andthey've made their decision, and I must respect it."

Since then, however, he has been walking back that pledge.

"I stand by everything I said during the whole campaign," Cornyn told reporters on Monday, and implied that Paxton can't win the race.

"I'd prefer a Republican to somebody like James Talarico," Cornyn said. "But I'm going to concentrate most of my efforts on trying to keep the Senate by helping some of what I consider to be the more winnable races around the country."

Source: ZeroHedge News