Cornyn Is Learning Meaning of FAFO

beg to differSen. John Cornyn was, for a long time, one of those Republican names I knew of, but didn’t think all that much about. He was reliable on the big issues, and there was nothing at all to get that upset about. In fact, that might have been the biggest knock against him: He was just kind of bleh. He was just there.

Then the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act came about, and he showed how little he could be trusted.

It came after Uvalde, which I guess he thought Texans would be so irrational about that they’d suddenly support gun control, and he was just making the savvy political move.

Unfortunately, he’s learning all about how, if one f**** around, one finds out.

Accordingly, Cornyn is being primaried by Texas AG Ken Paxton, who has been leading Cornyn in the polls. As one might imagine, the media are doing all they can to try to negate Paxton’s lead. Both are Republicans, but they hate Paxton more:

The TSU poll shows Paxton leading Cornyn in a two-person Republican primary race by 5 percentage points. A similar poll conducted by TSU in May found Paxton leading by 9 percentage points.

“Cornyn has substantially narrowed the gap both related to our prior surveys but especially related to many of the surveys that were circulating earlier in the summer that had him down by 10, 15, 20 points or so,” said Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist who co-directed the study.

Paxton has a variety of personal and professional issues dogging him, but that anyone could be so far ahead of Cornyn is a reflection of how ticked off Texans are. This kind of politically convenient memory lapse isn’t helping:

No https://t.co/gVmFdBmBP6

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) August 13, 2025

The long and the short of it is that Cornyn backed the wrong play. Whether he was taking a principled stand or not, it was one that it sure looks like Texans have no interest in. 

Paxton has been a relatively popular attorney general who has defended the Second Amendment as best he could from that office*. While that doesn’t account for all of the differences in polling numbers, the fact that the upstart in the Senate race is leading over an incumbent is huge.

The truth, though, is that what Paxton is shaping up to be doing, as things currently stand, is huge. Incumbents have way too high a re-election rate, even as Congress has abysmally low approval rates. Everyone is convinced it’s everyone else’s lawmakers that are the problem. Yet Cornyn made it very clear that he, himself, is the problem, and as things currently stand, Paxton is giving him a race that ordinarily wouldn’t be happening.

But as Brandon Herrera learned, scaring an incumbent isn’t enough. Rep. Tony Gonzales didn’t change despite winning by a mere 400 votes. He’s kept on doing everything he was before, which is why Herrera got back in the race.

That’s how incumbents roll.

So, they need to pay when they step out of line. Cornyn stepped out of line big-time.

While Gonzales supported gun control in office, Cornyn spearheaded efforts to get Republicans to side with Biden. That’s worthy of removal from office if anything was. He f-ed around, and now he’s starting to find out.

Step it up. 

It’s bad enough when you’re like me and have a slate of anti-gun Democrats calling the shots for you in Congress, but with Republicans like Cornyn, do we even need Democrats to take away our gun rights?

*The folks at the Firearms Policy Coalition might beg to differ – Cam 

Editor’s Note: President Trump and true pro-gun Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

Help us continue to report on their efforts and legislative successes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.