The emergence of Ted Cruz has made life miserable for Minority Whip John Cornyn. Cruz constantly has the senior senator for Texas looking over his right shoulder. Cornyn voted against Kerry as secretary of state, as did Cruz, but it’s likely that he did so only to inoculate himself against further doubts being cast on his conservative bona fides.

Roll Call has a story about the likelihood of a primary challenge to Cornyn:

The founder and director of a grass-roots conservative group said he expects Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, to face a primary challenge. Cornyn is up for re-election in 2014.

“I don’t know how good of a primary challenge he is going to get at this point, but he will get a primary challenge,” said Dean Wright, co-founder and director of New Revolution Now, based in Austin, Texas.

“There is vetting going on,” Wright said, but he did not have any other details. He noted that one possible challenger could be Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is viewed as much more likely to run for governor in 2014. Abbott and Cornyn are known to have a cordial relationship, with Cornyn once touting Abbott as a possible Senate candidate.

* * * *

There is another factor that makes Abbott an unlikely challenger to Cornyn. I have personally heard Abbott say, in years past, that the U.S. Senate is not a good option for him, because the travel back and forth would be difficult for him. In any case, I don’t think it matters: Abbott is widely thought to be focusing on the Governor’s Mansion in 2014.

Tagged: john cornyn, Ted Cruz

The last couple of days has been very active for races in Nueces County. Instead of running against Connie Scott, with whom he is paired, Raoul Torres decided to move to Kleberg County and run against former Democratic representative Abel Herrero in District 34. But the local Republican establishment isn’t happy with Torres and has recruited a local justice of the peace, Amanda Torres, to oppose Raoul Torres in the new district. Herrero, though, would seem to have the upper hand, since Democrat Rick Noriega outpolled Republican John Cornyn in the 2008 U.S. Senate race. Still to be heard from is the Ortiz clan; former state rep Solomon Ortiz Jr., son of former congressman Solomon Sr. , is said to be contemplating challenging Connie Scott. Meanwhile, a report out of Corpus Christi is that Texans for Lawsuit Reform is contemplating a joint endorsement of Todd Hunter and Geannie Morrison, who are paired in District 32. I spoke with a contact at TLR who said that no decision has been made concerning an endorsement in that race. That TLR would have a dual endorsement of the chairman of Calendars and a back-bencher like Morrison would be a shocker.

Tagged: Abel Herrero, Amanda Torres, Connie Scott, john cornyn, Raoul Torres, rick noriega

The two Texans who chair the Republican campaign committees in their respective houses — Senator John Cornyn and congressman Pete Sessions — appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday along with their Democratic counterparts to discuss their party’s strategy for the November elections. [For a full report on the discussion from NBS News's First Read blog, click HERE.]

The discussion was proof of the old adage, “Don’t pay attention to what they said, pay attention to what they didn’t say.” Despite prodding by host David Gregory, neither Sessions nor Cornyn would address what Republicans would do on the deficit and other fiscal issues if they take back control of Congress. Sessions spoke in generalities: The GOP would ensure that the government live within its means, and read the actual legislation. Now that’s a bold program. But when Gregory asked for details of painful choices, Sessions offered nothing. Cornyn’s answer to the “painful choices” question was, “Well, the president has a debt commission that reports December 1, and I think we’d all like to see what they come back with.” Gregory followed up with a kill shot: “But wait a minute, conservatives need a Democratic president’s debt commission to figure out what it is they want to cut?”

I get it that no one wants to tip their hands at this stage of the campaign. Still, is it that hard to say something like, “We need to take a long look at entitlement programs?” Or the cost of health care?

Some Republicans, Newt Gringrich among them, have warned that Republicans can not afford to sit back and ride the anti-Obama wave in November; they must put a positive agenda before the voters. Apparently that message has not gotten through to Cornyn or Sessions.

Tagged: john cornyn, pete sessions

This happened on John Cornyn’s watch as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. While Cornyn did his best to help Specter by urging Pennsylvania congressional Republicans to support him, as I noted in a previous post, his plea fell on deaf ears. The conservatives effectively drove him out of the party. Cornyn tried to play both sides of the street here, pushing his own conservative agenda vigorously while trying to keep Specter viable as a general election candidate, but the party appears to be determined to … well, I was going to say, “eat its own young,” but that hardly applies to the case of the octogenarian Specter. Four other Republican senators have announced that they will not seek reelection. Cornyn does not appear to be headed for a happy tour as NRSC chair.

Tagged: arlen specter, john cornyn, nrsc

Cornyn, who is chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee and a staunch conservative, finds himself in the unusual position of supporting one of the GOP’s most liberal senators. Cornyn has urged Pennsylvania Republicans to support the 80-year-old incumbent’s bid for reelection in 2010. Specter faces a rematch with conservative challenger Pat Toomey, a former congressman who lost the 2004 primary by less than 2% of the vote.

Roll Call, a daily newspaper that focuses on Congress and the federal government, reported:

In a letter to Pennsylvania Republicans last month, Cornyn stressed Specter’s ability to hold onto the seat in the general election as one of the major reasons the NRSC is backing him. “As I survey the political landscape of the upcoming 2010 elections, it’s clear we need more candidates that fit their states,” Cornyn wrote.

A Quinnipiac University poll released on March 25 shows Toomey leading Specter, 41-27. Specter’s favorable/unfavorable rating with Republicans was 29% favorable, 47% unfavorable. The poll attributed Specter’s weak numbers to his support for the federal stimulus package.

The reason that Cornyn and other prominent Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are supporting Specter is that Republicans currently have the minimum number of senators, 41, necessary to block Democratic legislation with a filibuster. If Toomey were to defeat Specter, recent political trends favorable to Democrats make it likely that the seat would be won by a Democrat, and the Republicans’ ability to stop the Democrats would disappear.

Cornyn undoubtedly was hoping for endorsements from members of the state’s congressional delegation, but Toomey’s lead in the polls led members who were quoted by CQ Politics to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

Tagged: arlen specter, john cornyn, nrsc

The Quorum Report today reports that the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call has a story saying that John Cornyn is encouraging Greg Abbott to join the Senate race to serve out the remainder of Kay Bailey Hutchison’s term. I was surprised to see this. Abbott supposedly has ruled out a Senate race because traveling back and forth to Washington would be difficult due to his physical condition. In fact, he said this to me a couple of years ago. Furthermore, he has had his sights set on running for lieutenant governor and governor. The considerable warchest he has amassed could not be transferred to a federal campaign, although I believe it is lawful to return the money and ask donors to resubmit it under the federal campaign limitations. The obvious question here is whether the encouragement of Abbot reveals that national Republicans are worried that their current lineup of Senate hopefuls is not strong enough to retain the seat. Can the answer be anything but Yes?

Tagged: attorney general, greg abbott, john cornyn, kay bailey hutchison, senate race, texas

No, that’s not the Austin Chronicle. It’s the Houston Chronicle.

The main reason that the Chronicle gives for the endorsement is one from the distant past of Texas politics, when bringing home the bacon was more important than ideology: that the Democrats are going to be the majority party and Texas (and Houston) need to have a strong voice in the Democratic ranks, or else Texas could find itself shut out of the pork, uh, I mean the earmarks, uh, I mean our fair share of federal grants and programs. I could make a similar argument for endorsing Cornyn, however: that if Noriega is elected, and Kay Bailey resigns her seat, Texas will be left with two very junior senators with no seniority and no prospects of gaining influence in the foreseeable future. Cornyn is a member of the Republican leadership organization and rates to move up in the years to come. It is not a stretch to imagine him as minority leader, or, when the pendulum swings back to the Republicans, majority leader. He does represent the largest red state. Even if Cornyn were to lose to Noriega, I could envision him entering the special election for Hutchison’s seat — and winning.

Here are some excerpts from the endorsement editorial:

* Come January, the halls of Congress will likely be populated by strengthened Democratic majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Texas will need able representation in all arenas in that shifting legislative environment. It will be especially important for Texans to have a strong, respected voice inside the expected Democratic majority in the Senate. Rick Noriega offers such a voice, with a distinctive Lone Star tone and perspective.

* Noriega, a Houstonian, describes himself as a Texas Democrat. That term, once common currency in the state’s political conversation, seems to have fallen out of favor over the past several Republican-dominated years . . . . Some old-fashioned moderate bipartisanship, Texas style, should be much welcomed in the Washington debate, particularly on overheated topics such as energy and immigration. Rick Noriega can provide it.

* Noriega well understands that there are subjects on which Texas Democrats must stand apart from the party’s national leadership. Energy is one. He is committed to bringing the message that the nation will need new domestic oil and gas supplies as it builds a bridge to greater energy independence and increased reliance on alternative energy sources. He will be able to point out in a forceful and personal way the folly of relying almost exclusively on hurricane-prone areas of the Gulf for supplies when abundant reserves can be tapped on the East and West coasts with little risk to the environment.

* On immigration, Noriega is in step with traditional Texas views of tolerance and a warm embrace of cultural differences, rooted in respect for the law. He will bring calm and reason to the national debate.

* Our decision to support Noriega was not made without due consideration of Cornyn’s strengths. The one-term incumbent has been a strong and reliable supporter of freedom of information and open government laws. And he worked to speed up the citizenship process for immigrants serving in the military. But John Cornyn also has been a too-loyal foot soldier for the Bush administration, willing to make a right turn off the cliff in support of fatally flawed policies on Iraq and torture, as well as casting improvident votes on a host of social issues. Unlike Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, he is not known for his attention to constituent services.

I regard this race as a hard choice. I don’t think Noriega is ready for the Senate, but he has come a long way since he first announced his candidacy. At the same time, I find myself in agreement with the Chronicle’s view — unstated, but implicit — that Cornyn, once widely regarded as a voice of moderation (and who ran as a moderate in 2002), has been more loyal to the hard right Republican ideology and the GOP base than to his overall Texas constituency. The Chronicle correctly singled out immigration as an issue in which he is out of step with Texas tradition. The editorial also mentioned social issues (stem cell research matters in a major medical community); it also might have brought up Cornyn’s votes (six of them, according to Noriega) against the expansion of S-CHIP, the state children’s health insurance program, even though Texas leads the nation in uninsured children.

I suspect that the deciding factor in the endorsement was that Noriega is from Houston. All politics is local, as they say, and the Chronicle’s politics clearly lean toward having a hometown senator. I would be quite surprised if the Chronicle’s sister newspaper in the Hearst family, the San Antonio Express-News, doesn’t endorse Cornyn, their local-boy-made-good.

Tagged: hearst, houston chronicle, john cornyn