Terry Virts, a retired NASA astronaut, is throwing his space helmet into the political ring. On Monday he announced he is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Senator John Cornyn.
In Virts’ official announcement video he leaned into his experience as a problem-solving spaceman who wasn’t a typical Democrat.
His announcement highlights the growing sense of opportunity by Democrats to win this senate seat. Typically, the party that holds the White House slumps during the mid-term congressional election. And there’s a mounting expectation that Cornyn will lose the Republican nomination to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is the least popular Republican statewide office holder— yet he remains extremely popular with Republican primary voters.
Recent polling shows that Paxton is holding a commanding lead over Cornyn. Pulse Decision Science surveyed likely GOP primary voters — and found Paxton leads with 57% of the respondents, compared to Cornyn’s 38%, - just 5% were undecided.
Other surveys consistently show Paxton has a strong advantage over Cornyn—often by double digits. For instance, a UT‑Tyler poll showed Paxton at 44% and Cornyn at 34%.
Paxton’s appeal is strongest among committed, conservative primary voters who respond to his hardline, Trump-aligned messaging.
But his campaign is shadowed by legal controversies: a 2023 impeachment by the Texas House, subsequent acquittal, and lingering federal investigations.
But Democrats are watching this Republican match up and smelling opportunity. They see Paxton as a week candidate in the general election and a strong Democratic challenger could end a 30-year streak of losses.
A Stratus Intelligence poll of likely voters finds Paxton trailing a generic Democratic opponent by three points—39% to 42%, with 19% undecided.
That’s an eyebrow-raising result given Texas’ traditional GOP lean.
It appears there are Democrats preparing to enter their primary to see who will challenge Paxton. Former Astronaut Terry Virts has formally announced. But names more familiar to Texas Democrats are being talked about as candidates. Former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke has been barnstorming the state with well attended rallies. Current San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro has messaged on social media that he’s considering making the run. There’s speculation that Former Congressman Colin Allred, who lost to Ted Cruz for Senate in 2024, will jump in. And State Representative James Talerico is also seen as a possible candidate.
There is reporting that these possible candidates are talking among themselves and looking to decide who would be the best candidate. They apparently are trying to avoid a bruising and expensive Democratic primary. They could be strategizing who could run on the Democratic ticket for other races including governor, lieutenant governor and Paxton’s now open seat as attorney general.
But let’s be sure that a Ken Paxton Republican nomination doesn’t automatically mean a give-me for the Democrats. Paxton has won statewide three times already. Although during his last re-election in 2022 he underperformed compared to other Republicans running statewide.
At that time Paxton was in serious legal troubles, including ongoing securities‑fraud investigations, an FBI probe, state bar disciplinary actions, and allegations of abuse of office.
However, by highlighting his many lawsuits against the Biden administration and emphasizing “fighting big tech,” “voter fraud,” and social issues—Paxton mobilized his base and won.
Nevertheless, Democrats are chomping at the bit for their chance to face Paxton in a race for U.S. Senate.
