Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday that Republicans face a competitive and potentially $200 million fight to hold Texas' other U.S. Senate seat, while predicting GOP nominee Ken Paxton will ultimately defeat Democrat James Talarico.
"I think we're going to win this race, but it is a real fight," Cruz said on "CBS Mornings." When asked whether the contest could become a $100 million race, Cruz doubled the estimate: "$200 million."
Cruz said he plans to campaign alongside Paxton and use his super PAC to support the Texas attorney general, who defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn in a costly Republican primary runoff in May.
"Ken Paxton just came out of a rough primary," Cruz said in the interview. "When you face that many attack ads, you're a little bit bruised."
The comments come as election forecasters increasingly view the race as competitive. The Cook Political Report shifted the contest last week from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up." Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate election in Texas since 1988, but a Talarico victory could help determine control of a chamber where Republicans currently hold 53 seats.
Republicans have increasingly sought to portray Talarico, a state representative and Presbyterian seminarian who describes himself as a progressive Christian, as outside the Texas political mainstream. On Sunday, Republican Rep. Beth Van Duyne said his views "would kill Texas," although some policies she attributed to him are not positions he has publicly endorsed.
Cruz made a similar argument Monday, calling Talarico's record "really extreme" and predicting voters would reject him as they learned more about his positions. "He would be a great candidate in California," Cruz said. "He's not a great candidate in Texas."
Paxton, meanwhile, released a proposal Monday aimed at regulating data centers amid growing concerns in Texas about their electricity and water consumption. Talarico attacked the proposal after X labeled a graphic promoting the plan as AI-generated, while also accusing Paxton of ties to the data center industry.
Despite the increasingly competitive environment, Cruz maintained that Republicans remain favored to keep the seat. "I think we're going to win this race," he said, "but it is a real fight."
