From the Associated Press: Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, defying Senate GOP leadership and adding a new element to an already contentious primary campaign.
The two-term Houston-area congressman said he’s running because he doesn’t believe Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who’s had a cool relationship with President Donald Trump, has shown he can beat Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s running despite being shadowed by legal and personal issues.
“What I’ve seen in polling over the past few months is people want an alternative, and I’m going to give it to them,” Hunt said in an Associated Press interview on Sunday.
Senate Republican leaders have worried aloud that questions that have dogged Paxton, who entered the race in April, would cost the party many millions more dollars to defend in a general election, despite Texas’ Republican lean.
So far, President Donald Trump has made an endorsement for either Paxton or Cornyn. Now, the race just got even more heated.
The report notes that multiple Republican leaders have tried to discourage Hunt from joining the already contentious race, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
But Hunt declared while announcing his decision on Monday, “The U.S. Senate race in Texas must be about more than a petty feud between two men who have spent months trading barbs. With my candidacy, this race will finally be about what’s most important — Texas.”
“My record speaks louder than words. I am the most consistently conservative legislator representing Texas in Congress,” Hunt argued.
Hunt, 43, just won his seat to the U.S. House in the November 2022 election, and won his re-election campaign in 2024. He is a combat veteran who spent eight years in the Army as an Apache helicopter pilot.
Posting his campaign video on X Monday morning, Hunt wrote, “The time is NOW. For Faith. For Family. For Freedom. FOR TEXAS. I’m Wesley Hunt, and I’m running for Senate.”
The time is NOW.
For Faith. For Family. For Freedom.
FOR TEXAS.I’m Wesley Hunt, and I’m running for Senate. pic.twitter.com/DHJPl0wnI8
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) October 6, 2025
Hunt later appeared on the Will Cain show. Sharing a video of that interview, he wrote, “I’m running for the United States Senate because the Washington establishment has no right to choose who represents Texas. That decision belongs to Texans, and Texans alone. There’s a clear hunger for new leadership, for an alternative that reflects the future of this nation. The Senate needs younger, battle-tested, forward-thinking leaders who have real skin in the game, leaders who will live with the consequences of the votes they take. The time is NOW. And I will fight tirelessly, every single day, to earn your trust, your confidence, and your vote.”
I’m running for the United States Senate because the Washington establishment has no right to choose who represents Texas.
That decision belongs to Texans, and Texans alone.
There’s a clear hunger for new leadership, for an alternative that reflects the future of this nation.… pic.twitter.com/STveu56qeK
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) October 6, 2025
READ MORE from the Associated Press.
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