Texas is in for a bruising primary season — or as we’ve previously called it: The Republican Death Match You Didn’t Know You Were Waiting For — as U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is fending off a challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston. A little more than three months out, and the race appears to be neck–and–neck, according to CBS, with Hunt closely trailing Cornyn and Paxton in polls.
Each of the three GOP candidates have touted their support for President Donald Trump as a crucial aspect of their campaign and suggested their opponents are not as loyal to the president, vying for an endorsement to push them ahead in the close race.
One issue of particular relevance to Trump is the release of files detailing the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019. Last week, thousands of Epstein’s emails were released by House Democrats, including exchanges in which Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours” at his house with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims who had previously said that she had not witnessed Trump sexually abusing minors at Epstein’s home.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump said multiple times he would release the Epstein files if elected president, according to ABC News.
“It’d be interesting to find out what happened there, because that was a weird situation,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “I’d go a long way toward that one.”
However, the president appeared to reverse course after taking office, deflecting calls for the release of the files and saying he didn’t understand the interest in what he called “pretty boring stuff” in an interview with CNN.
Cornyn and Hunt appeared to follow Trump’s lead on the issue.
In September, Cornyn joined Sen. Ted Cruz (who isn’t up for reelection until 2031) and the majority of Senate Republicans in tabling a measure which would have compelled Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the files, according to the San Antonio Current.
The amendment to release the files was tabled after a 51 to 49 vote. Only two Republican senators, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted for the amendment to continue.
In a July Senate hearing, Cornyn pushed back on Democratic calls for the Epstein files to be released, instead turning the focus of discussion to Trump’s enforcement of border security.
“To our colleagues, the intrigue and salacious details of the Epstein case are a great distraction from the issues that make a meaningful difference in the lives of ordinary Americans,” Cornyn said at the hearing. “What do the American people really care about? That President Trump is doing exactly what he promised to do, and what he campaigned on.”
Paxton has largely been silent on the matter of the Epstein files.
Hunt chose to sit out a vote in a July measure to release the files. (It was blocked by Republicans, according to MSNBC.)
However, on Sunday evening, Trump appeared to reverse course yet again, calling for House Republicans to release the files. The move came as dozens of House Republicans had already said they would support the release — and after he seemingly failed to convince either Congresswoman Lauren Boebert or Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to change sides.
“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The U.S. House is slated to vote on the release of the files Tuesday. Texas has 38 seats in Congress, and some members have made their positions more clear than others. Republican Congressman Keith Self said in a July town hall with constituents that he supported the release of the files, according to NPR.
“I don’t mind pushing back against the leadership because, as I said, all of y’all have been promised this for so long,” Self said to his constituents. “We’ve got to make it happen.”
In August, footage from a meeting in Houston showed constituents heckling Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw to “release the files” and “answer our questions” about the late financier’s crimes.
U.S. Senate candidate and current U.S. House member Colin Allred has advocated for the release of the files. Meanwhile, State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), who is also running for Sen. Cornyn’s seat, criticized Republicans on the issue in an appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival on Friday.
“When did pedophilia become a partisan issue?” Talarico said. “If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree on — Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives — it’s that no one, including the President of the United States, should be able to cover up crimes against children.”