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It's not just Texas.
Republicans in other states, like Georgia, are frustrated that President Donald Trump has refused to make endorsements in competitive U.S. Senate primary races to help avoid costly runoff elections that could drain party resources.
In Georgia, 11 candidates are in the race to eventually take on U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, in November. Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, one of the three leading candidates in that race, told CNN he recently pushed Trump again to make a pick in the race, but the president refused.
In Texas, Sen. John Cornyn has repeatedly asked Trump for his support to help him defeat his opponents, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has warned that dragging out the race only sets the stage for a costly runoff election and an even more expensive November election.
"I'm giving it very serious thought," Trump said last week about endorsing in the Texas race. "My problem is that I'm friendly with all of them. So those are the hard ones."
In Louisiana, Trump has actually supported a GOP challenger to incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, setting up another potentially expensive primary.
"We're literally going to have Republican-on-Republican money being spent and that makes no sense leading up to a general where we're going to have headwinds," U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told the Washington Post in a story published Monday.
The Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber going into the midterms. But with GOP-held seats in Maine and North Carolina looking tight, and Democrats outraising Republicans in races in Ohio and Georgia, Republicans are ringing alarm bells that 2026 is going to be harder than many first expected.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the shocking election results in Fort Worth last week have added to his worries. In Tarrant County, Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a state senate seat that a Democrat hasn't held since the 1980s.
"I think what happened in Texas should capture our attention and remind us that we need to up our game and do a better job," Thune said. "We've got to get out and tell that story. And I think over the course of the next several months, we'll do that."
 | Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter |
Who's Up, Who's Down
A daily stock market-style report on key players in Texas politics.
Up: Bad Bunny.
Despite all the worries that he would turn his 13-minute Super Bowl halftime show into a political statement against ICE as he did during the Grammys, it never happened. "Bad Bunny had the biggest stage in the world and could've made it political," wrote conservative influencer Emily Austin. "He didn't. He chose unity & love." And he even worked in Hollywood superstar Pedro Pascal, who has San Antonio roots, into the show. Pascal was one of several cameos that also included Cardi B, Karol G, and Jessica Alba.
Down: Dan Patrick.
A coalition of multifaith organizations filed a lawsuit Monday against the federal Religious Liberty Commission — an advisory panel created last year by President Donald Trump and chaired by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — accusing it of failing to represent diverse American faith communities. The plaintiffs allege "unfair bias" in the commission, which falls under the U.S. Department of Justice. The commission advises the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on religious liberty policies in the country.
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What else is going on in Texas
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Pick of the day
Photo by: Houston Chronicle
The Houston Independent School District has lost nearly 4,000 immigrant students amid the ICE crackdown. That is cutting students off from their education and future careers, according to advocates, educators and immigration experts. Over time, they warn, the fallout could mean school funding cuts, population declines and a weaker economy for Houston. "We fear coming to school," one student told reporters Claire Partain and Julián Aguilar.
What else I'm reading
The United States and Texas are fully prepared to combat a parasitic fly that poses a billion-dollar threat to the Texas cattle industry, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday during a visit to the Rio Grande Valley. Texas Tribune reporter Berenice Garcia writes about the latest efforts to eradicate the New World Screwworm.
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