Two weeks after his surprise entry into the 2026 Republican primary for U.S. senator from Texas, Rep. Wesley Hunt spoke to Newsmax about why he's relinquishing a safe House seat to join an uncertain race.
Discussing his challenge to Sen. John Cornyn — already facing a strong primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton — Hunt said: "The biggest issue that we differ on is his stance on granting amnesty to thousands upon thousands of illegals during his time in the Senate.
"That's just a nonstarter for the Republican primary voter, right?"
Hunt added that he and Cornyn also disagree on gun control.
In the challenger's words, "Cornyn co-authored gun control in Texas, and albeit it was after Uvalde, which was a terrible incident, his knee-jerk reaction was to implement red flag laws and impede on the ability for law abiding citizens to attain and keep their Second Amendment rights."
Hunt said that after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022, Cornyn voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan gun bill that would scrutinize people buying guns under the age of 21 and would be more restrictive on who could own a gun.
As for the third candidate in the Senate primary, Paxton, Hunt says that someone younger should become a senator.
Hunt said that Paxton is already about 20 years older than him — 62 to Hunt's 43.
"I'm in this race because I believe that this race cannot be about personal animus and a blood feud between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, which has caused leadership at the National Republican Senatorial Committee to spend $30 million on a race that cannot be won by a 24-year incumbent who's that far underwater," explained Hunt. "So what I am giving a primary voter is two America first choices, me or Ken Paxson."
He added that Paxton "would be a very good [U.S.] attorney general right now."
Hunt — great-grandson of a slave, and one of three siblings to graduate from West Point — emphasized how he was the first member of Congress in the last election to endorse President Trump's run for reelection.
Hunt campaigned for Trump in Iowa 11 times as well as in Nevada, California, and Illinois.
As for Hunt's credentials, he's a former U.S. Army captain who has represented Texas' 38th Congressional District since 2023.
When asked what his other priorities are should he win the Senate seat, Hunt replied his ambition is to be "the oil and gas senator."
Noting that Texas has the eighth-largest gross domestic product in the world, he emphasized that energy is "the most important industry in the world right now and is a matter of national security."
Given the spirited Republican battle, talk that Democrats may elect their first senator from Texas since 1992 is rising.
One increasingly discussed candidate is Rep. James Talarico, 36, a former school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who drew national attention when former President Barack Obama hailed him as "terrific" and a "really talented young man" in a recent online interview. (Obama mispronounced the Texan's name as
Ter-rico," leading the proud Talarico to post on X, "President Obama can pronounce my name however he wants.")
Since announcing his candidacy last month, Talarico has raised $6.2 million, easily outpacing the $4.2 million raised by former Rep. Colin Allred since his announcement for Cornyn's seat in July.
Other candidates who have announced a Senate run on the Democrat side include Michael Swanson, a union flight attendant and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and retired NASA astronaut Terry Virts.
Just last week, far-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett signaled that, with her district likely to be more Republican after the latest redistricting, she might enter the Senate sweepstakes.
Crockett is known for her cutting comments about Republicans, at once calling Texas' Gov. Greg Abbott (who uses a wheelchair) "Gov. Hot Wheels."
She called South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace a "child" during a televised exchange — which led an enraged Mace to suggest they "settle this outside."
Both parties will hold primaries March 3, and if no candidate wins a majority, a subsequent runoff will be held.
Mary Barnes contributed to this report.
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