Bush and Cornyn Leave Out Paxton as They Raise Cash for Senate Candidates

Former President George W. Bush and Senator John Cornyn, two top Texas Republicans, are rallying conservative donors behind the party’s Senate candidates — except for the one running in their own state, Ken Paxton.

Mr. Cornyn is hosting a fund-raiser on Monday evening in Dallas for six Republican nominees in battleground states, according to an invitation to the event that was obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Bush, listed on the invite as a “special guest,” is attending the event, his spokesman confirmed.

The event will benefit Maintain the Majority, a new joint fund-raising committee supporting the Senate candidates, who are defending Republican-held seats in Maine, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa and looking to flip seats in Michigan and New Hampshire.

But Mr. Paxton, the Republican nominee in Texas, who defeated Mr. Cornyn in a costly and bitter primary, was not included. His campaign declined to comment on the fund-raiser.

The fund-raising omission of Mr. Paxton is another escalation in the standoff between old-guard Bush Republicans and the fiery insurgent wing represented by the party’s Senate nominee, Mr. Paxton, President Trump and their allies.

And it comes as the parties battle for cash and advertising time in the Texas Senate race, one of this year’s top contests. Mr. Paxton has badly trailed his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, in campaign fund-raising, but super PACs tied to Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans have come to Mr. Paxton’s aid, reserving more than $80 million in outside advertising in Texas.