In the GOP primary battle to retain his seat, Texas Sen. John Cornyn is getting a financial boost from the oil and natural gas industry.
The incumbent, who’s seeking a fifth term in the Senate, raised at least $220,000 last year from people and corporate political action committees in the oil and gas sector, an analysis of campaign finance records shows.
That’s ahead of the $157,000 that his main GOP primary rival, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has brought in from oil and gas in the midterm election.
Rep. Wesley Hunt, who is also running for the GOP nomination, has brought in less than $10,000 from oil and gas but had been in the race for less than three months at the end of the most recent reporting period on Dec. 31.
The Lone Star State is the nation’s top oil producer, and fossil fuels represent a significant piece of its economy and its politics.
But Cornyn’s edge with energy companies may not be enough for him to win the March 3 primary. Recent polling has him neck and neck with Paxton: A January poll had Paxton with 27 percent support to Cornyn’s 26 percent, well within the 4.1-point margin of error. Hunt had 16 percent, while another 29 percent of primary voters remained undecided.
Paxton is running to Cornyn’s right, seizing on the incumbent’s disagreements with President Donald Trump to paint him as insufficiently conservative. Trump has not issued an endorsement in the race.
Although energy hasn’t emerged as a major point of contention in the primary, Cornyn’s fundraising from the oil and gas industry shows the sector’s faith in the senator’s record and his support for its business, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
“It has to do with seniority and with a workhorse approach to things on Cornyn’s part. So if I’m in the oil and gas industry and I feel like I need something, I would think of Cornyn as being in a much better position to help deliver that for me,” Jillson said.
Paxton, meanwhile, is seen by business leaders as more interested in political fights than serious policymaking, he said, and Hunt is perceived as a political newcomer.
“There’s Paxton, who might be off jousting at dragons,” Jillson said. “Or Hunt, who can’t yet find the bathroom.”
Cornyn has been a consistent ally to oil. He led Republican opposition to President Joe Biden’s pause on liquefied natural gas exports, convinced the GOP to save hydrogen energy tax credits and has fought against electric vehicle incentives.
The Texas senator’s donors include a number of big names in the oil and gas industry.
Ryan Lance, the CEO of ConocoPhillips, has given him $7,000 this cycle, the maximum allowable. Richard Kinder, executive chair of Kinder Morgan, also gave him $7,000, as did his wife, Nancy Kinder.
Energy Transfer Chair Kelcy Warren gave nearly the maximum, at $6,800, while Devon Energy President Clay Gaspar contributed $3,500. Enterprise Products executives A.J. Teague, Robert Sanders and Randy Fowler all gave to Cornyn’s campaign.
PACs affiliated with a number of oil companies contributed too, including Halliburton, ConocoPhillips and Koch Industries.
Paxton had fewer big names among his donors, with more executives from small and independent oil companies. FracTech co-founder and major conservative donor Dan Wilks and his wife, Staci Wilks, each gave Paxton’s campaign $7,000.
Cornyn is also winning in the overall money race. In the fourth quarter of 2025, he brought in more than $7 million between his campaign fund and affiliates, including a joint fundraising committee with the National Republican Senatorial Committee. That compares with $1.1 million for Paxton and $790,000 for Hunt.
The winner of the primary will face the eventual Democratic candidate: Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are both vying for the nomination. Democrats are trying to flip the seat, but the Republican nominee is favored to win.
Trump took 56 percent in the 2024 presidential race, while then-Vice President Kamala Harris (D) received 42 percent.
