President Donald Trump says he is not ready to tap which Texan he wants to send to the U.S. Senate.
The commander in chief told reporters Friday that he likes both incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and outgoing Attorney General Ken Paxton — the two Republicans vying for the seat — but hasn't made a decision on which would be best for the job.
"In a way, I wish they weren't running against each other," Trump said in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One, according to The Washington Post. "I'll make a decision somewhere along the line."
Mark Jones, political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research, said it's too early to tell whether an endorsement would help or hurt either candidate.
"The optimal scenario for Paxton is that Trump retains his high-level support among Republican primary voters and then he endorses Paxton in the US Senate Primary. In which case it'd be virtually impossible for Cornyn to win," he told The Texas Newsroom.
But Jones added if Trump's popularity decreases there's a chance an endorsement from him would not help either candidate.
Cornyn, 73, has held the seat for two dozen years. Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, he was state attorney general and sat on the Texas Supreme Court. He also held the position of Senate majority whip, a position that required him to corral votes for GOP priorities.
Paxton, 62, has served a decade as state attorney general. He previously won seats in both the Texas Senate and Texas House, representing the McKinney area.
The two men have split repeatedly over the years, most recently spurred by Cornyn's criticisms of Paxton's legal troubles. Cornyn has called Paxton, who was impeached and later acquitted for alleged corruption, a "con man."
Paxton says Cornyn is not sufficiently conservative, and has criticized him for his votes on foreign aid and gun policy.
The Texas Newsroom is a public radio journalism collaboration that includes NPR, KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media, KUT in Austin, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio and other stations across the state.