Republicans on pins and needles in a GOP stronghold

Republicans are suddenly feeling very real heat in a state that has long been viewed as one of their biggest strongholds, according to a Thursday report from The Hill, as Democrat James Talarico seems poised to give Democrats their best shot at a big Texas win in years.

Primary elections went down in the Lone Star State on Tuesday, giving shape to one of the most closely watched midterm races in the country. On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico secured the Democratic nomination for the Senate, with polls indicating that he represents the party's best shot this year of winning a statewide seat in Texas. On the Republican side, no candidate received enough of the total votes, necessitating a runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn is considered the safest, more traditional GOP option, while Paxton — an outspoken Donald Trump ally with a scandal-ridden tenure as AG — could be the nominee who would put the party's hold on the seat in jeopardy.

Polls have shown that a Talarico-Paxton race would be the match-up most likely to produce a Democratic victory. As that version of the race becomes more and more likely, The Hill reported that operatives within the GOP are growing extremely anxious about how things will play out. Speaking to the outlet, an anonymous party operative said that it is now imperative that the president weigh in with an endorsement, which he has not done as of yet, to tip the race in a direction the GOP can best win.

"Talarico being the nominee makes it more important than ever that President Trump endorses John Cornyn," the operative said.

There has been some optimism, however, since Cornyn secured the most votes of any candidate in Tuesday's GOP primary and outperformed internal expectations. While the results of the primary are still up in the air, some now believe that Cornyn will prevail.

“I think it gets Cornyn over the finish line,” another Republican strategist told The Hill. “I am [optimistic] only because of how Cornyn performed last night. I think everybody’s assumption was it was going to be a more conservative primary electorate, and for a whole host of reasons and variables, most notably a hundred million dollars’ worth, that changed."

They added: “Cornyn comes in with momentum, and I think that momentum also leads to a lot of pressure on the White House and the president to have to make a decision.”

Meanwhile, Dan Eberhart, a Paxton-backing GOP donor, told The Hill that a runoff does not favor Cornyn, given the more heavily conservative voters that generally turn out for them.

"This was Cornyn’s shot to fend off his challenger by getting over 50 percent and he couldn’t do it,” he explained. “The runoff voters will be even less friendly territory for Cornyn."

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