Texas Republican Paxton steps up his Senate bid against GOP Sen. Cornyn ahead of early voting

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is stepping up his race for the U.S. Senate with early voting about to begin for the March 3 GOP primary

TYLER, Texas -- It was an unfamiliar setting for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Monday night: walking out to the applause of supporters at his first campaign rally since the Republican announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate 10 months ago.

Paxton's appearance before about 100 supporters in a bar in east Texas is part of his stepped-up campaign to unseat four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn and add a “Make America Great Again” devotee to the Senate, a bid that has set up one of this year's most contentious GOP primaries.

Until Monday, Paxton had waged a lower-wattage campaign, spent relatively little money and drew attention primarily by pursuing conservative causes as the state attorney general. But with early voting starting Tuesday for the March 3 primary, Paxton is scheduled to make stops across Texas this week. He also has begun airing ads linking himself with President Donald Trump as he takes on Cornyn and Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Despite being the target of millions of dollars in attack ads from Cornyn and his allies, and opposition from Senate Republican leaders who say Cornyn is the stronger candidate in a general election, Paxton is heading into the GOP primary with the look of his party's front-runner.

“His money is coming from the D.C. establishment,” Paxton said of Cornyn as he spoke from the bar's bandstand. “That's how he can afford these commercials and that's how they always try to convince us from Washington with their money that we should select their person. Well, I'm not their person and I'm never going to be their person.”