Wesley Hunt Enters Texas GOP Senate Race And Shakes Up 2026 Primary

Texas Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt announced Monday that he is running for U.S. Senate, entering an already crowded GOP primary that includes incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“The time is NOW,” Hunt wrote on X, launching his campaign with a video emphasizing his military background, conservative values, and commitment. 

Hunt currently represents Texas’s 38th congressional district and is a West Point graduate who served in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

His entry adds a new dynamic to what is expected to be a contentious Republican primary in March 2026. According to The New York Times, Hunt said he is offering voters an alternative to what he called a “blood feud” between Cornyn and Paxton. “They’re just slinging mud at each other,” he told The New York Times.

“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 told The Associated Press during an interview Sunday.

A poll by One Nation showed Cornyn holds 32% support, Paxton 31%, and Hunt 17%, even before Hunt’s official announcement. The Texas Politics Project previously found that half of Republicans had no opinion of Hunt.

Cornyn’s campaign responded to Hunt’s announcement with a statement on X, calling him “a legend in his own mind,” while Paxton’s team welcomed Hunt’s entry. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which supports Cornyn, reiterated its opposition to Hunt’s run, calling it a  “vanity project” that could dilute their resources.

If elected, Hunt said he would prioritize repealing the bipartisan gun control law that Cornyn supported after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.