Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Leaders of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council knew it would be hard to get Ken Paxton to show up to their Senate town hall event. So, they turned to an unexpected ally: Sen. Ted Cruz.<\/p>\n
Javier Palomarez, the council\u2019s president and CEO, needed help since his own background \u2013 as both a Democrat and longtime ally of Paxton\u2019s rival in the primary, Sen. John Cornyn \u2013 wouldn\u2019t appeal to the Texas attorney general.<\/p>\n
Cruz, however, was eager to step in. Soon, Palomarez was discussing logistics for the town hall with Paxton\u2019s team; Paxton joined the event last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed to find common ground and people that he trusted, that I trusted \u2026 and that clearly was Ted Cruz,\u201d Palomarez said. \u201cI don’t agree with Ted on a litany of shit, but at the end of the day, the guy’s always been a good partner to me and to the small business community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruz\u2019s involvement hints at the significant behind-the-scenes role he is playing in this year\u2019s high-stakes Texas Senate race \u2014 part-time adviser, part-time bundler, full-time believer that Paxton will pull out a win and keep Cruz from representing Texas alongside a Democrat.<\/p>\n
Paxton\u2019s inner circle is dotted with longtime Cruz allies, and Cruz\u2019s aid could further cement his position as a Texas kingmaker in retiring GOP Sen. John Cornyn\u2019s absence, earn new allies and boost his national profile ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid<\/a>. But if Paxton fails, it could be a black eye for Cruz.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is absolutely critical that Texas stay red, that Republicans keep a majority in the U.S. Senate and the House, and that we elect Ken Paxton instead of James Talarico,\u201d Cruz said in an interview. \u201cAnd so I am all in.\u201d<\/p>\n Paxton\u2019s campaign declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n For decades, Cornyn has been the gatekeeper to Texas\u2019 GOP donor class. But his loss has put Cruz even more at the center of Texas’ deep-pocketed donor community, letting him flex muscles first developed during his 2016 presidential run as Paxton tries to hold off Talarico and his fundraising machine. Paxton raised $18 million<\/a> in the last quarter, some of those donations coming from first-time donors introduced to him by Cruz.<\/p>\n \u201cTed doesn’t go through a meeting in Texas where he’s not telling donors they\u2019ve got to get on board,\u201d said one person close to both Cruz and Paxton, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.<\/p>\n Cruz has regularly campaigned alongside Paxton and frequently jabs Talarico on his popular podcast<\/a>. His super PAC has gone on air with anti-Talarico advertising. And in addition to greasing the rails with his big-money donors in the Lone Star State, he\u2019s acting as an informal adviser, regularly speaking withPaxton, according to two people familiar with their conversations.The political orbits of Cruz and Paxton have significant overlap. Axiom Strategies \u2014 the GOP firm run by Jeff Roe, who led Cruz\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign \u2014 has long worked with both men. Nick Maddux, senior adviser to the Paxton campaign, was a key staffer in Cruz\u2019s 2018 and 2024 reelection efforts. Sam Cooper, a longtime Cruz adviser, is now a senior strategist for the pro-Paxton Lone Star Liberty PAC.<\/p>\n Cruz stayed neutral during the messy primary between Cornyn and Paxton. He came off the sidelines after the runoff.<\/p>\n \u201cTed was one of the first ones that understood that, hey, this guy just got hit with $200 million of negative advertising. He’s running against an opponent who’s going to be well-funded,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cHe’s going to need some help.\u201d<\/p>\n Within a week of Paxton\u2019s primary runoff victory in May, Cruz emceed a Washington fundraiser for Paxton, urging attendees to come together and support the Republican nominee. Days later, Cruz joined Paxton for a Texas fly-around, stopping in Dallas, Houston and Midland all in one day, to meet with donors. Cruz said they secured $3 million in donations on that day.<\/p>\n Cruz has presented himself as an emissary between more traditional GOP donors and Paxton\u2019s hardline MAGA world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe case I’ve been making to donors who previously supported John Cornyn is, at this point, it’s a binary choice, and I think the choice is very clear,\u201d Cruz said, noting he\u2019s had \u201chundreds of conversations\u201d with donors. \u201cMany, if not most, of the longtime Paxton donors are also supporters of mine, but many, if not most, of the longtime Cornyn donors are supporters of mine, as well. And so I do think I’m able to bridge those two worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n But Cruz\u2019s involvement also carries some risk. Paxton is trailing in most recent polls, and Democrats are increasingly hopeful this is the cycle they finally flip a Texas Senate seat. If Paxton goes down, he could stifle Cruz\u2019s momentum ahead of 2028, when other Republican hopefuls may attempt to lay the blame at Cruz\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n “This is smart on Ted\u2019s part,\u201d said one longtime Texas Republican strategist not affiliated with either man, granted anonymity to speak openly. \u201cIt cements him with Paxton supporters as being the guy who stood up for him, and it allows him to expand his reach and have a greater claim on having a unified Texas behind him if he makes a run in 2028.”<\/p>\n If Paxton loses, \u201che put his best foot forward, and it’s going to be Paxton’s fault that he lost, not Ted Cruz’s,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n Cruz\u2019s super PAC, Truth and Courage, was one of the first to go up backing Paxton, reserving over $2 million on air with an anti-Talarico ad<\/a>, according to data from tracking firm AdImpact \u2014 though that spend has since been swamped by major buys from the Senate Leadership Fund\u2019s PAC and other pro-Republican groups.<\/p>\n Cruz has hosted or participated in several fundraisers for Paxton, both in person and on Zoom. One of them \u2014 a fundraiser hosted by Cruz\u2019s PAC on the sidelines of the Republican midterm convention, a confab Paxton later said<\/a> \u201cdropped our numbers\u201d \u2014 featured dozens of donors crammed into an apartment in a glitzy uptown Dallas high-rise, in such close quarters that some of Paxton\u2019s staffers were relegated to work on the balcony.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredibly well attended,\u201d recalled Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida), who spoke at the fundraiser. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t move.\u201d<\/p>\n