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For months, the Senate Republican campaign has vilified Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who won the state Senate primary on Tuesday, in official statements that attacked him for “incompetence” and described his personal behavior as “truly disgusting and disgusting.”<\/p>\n
And when President Trump endorsed Mr. Paxton last week, Republican senators were outraged, complaining that the president had put his personal desire for loyalty above party political interests, potentially jeopardizing the GOP’s chances of holding the Texas seat and the Senate.<\/p>\n
But after Mr. Paxton defeated Texas Senator John Cornyn by nearly 30 points on Tuesday night, turning Texas into a battleground, Republicans have played a very strange role.<\/p>\n
He quickly recalled months of blistering accusations against Mr. Paxton that were as disappointing as any made by Democrats. And, swallowing their anger about Mr. Cornyn’s disdain and its potential political consequences, they set out to express varying levels of “all-in” on Mr. Paxton’s campaign, if not his character.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Senator John Thune, Republican and majority leader of South Dakota, acknowledged the change in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday, saying, “We are pivoting.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Thune said he had already spoken to Mr. Paxton, whom he described as “fully prepared, ready to go into the fall election and not taking any time off, already on the phone raising money, and doing all the things you’re going to do to be successful.”<\/p>\n
It was a sign that the GOP, now tasked with reassuring concerned donors and uniting a divided party for an expensive and competitive race, was rushing to unify and save its chances of holding the Texas seat.<\/p>\n
Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina and chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote on social media: “I stand in solidarity with President Trump, Ken Paxton, and Texans who want to protect our Republican majority.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
And behind the scenes, the committee quietly prepared the ground for the 180-degree turn the party was forced to make.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The NRSC immediately scrubbed all of its Paxton attack ads and news releases from its website, including an ad from last summer that was posted under the headline “Ken Paxton’s lies and incompetence continue to grow.”<\/p>\n
A digital ad also ended, depicting Mr. Paxton “driving so asleep that he’s treating Texas taxpayer dollars like monopoly money \u2013 giving millions to liberal organizations and candidates.”<\/p>\n
After Mr. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce “on Biblical grounds”, a statement from the organization’s communications director, Joanna Rodriguez, said that the candidate’s behavior was “truly disgusting and disgusting”, and “no one should have to endure what Angela Paxton did.”<\/p>\n
That statement is also no longer available on the group’s website. CNN previously reported that the group had deleted much of its website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Some individual senators who had been supporting Mr. Cornyn closed camp around Mr. Paxton soon after his victory. Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 Republican, endorsed him within hours of his victory Tuesday night, writing online that a vote for Mr. Paxton in November was “a vote for a safer, stronger and more prosperous America.”<\/p>\n
Ignore previous attacks from Republicans accusing the state of being responsible for the increase in violent crime rates in the state.<\/p>\n
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had been neutral in the race, but said Mr Paxton now had his full support.<\/p>\n