In the March 2026 Texas GOP Senate runoff between incumbent RINO Sen. John Cornyn and MAGA challenger AG Ken Paxton, Cornyn launched a Faith Advisory Council featuring prominent evangelicals like Max Lucado, Jack Graham, and Gus Reyes to shore up conservative support.
In response, Paxton ally Gregg Keller attacked it, noting that three members back the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), which advocates for “a path toward legal status and/or citizenship” for qualifying undocumented immigrants and affordable legal services for illegal immigrants.
Keller and critics framed EiT as open borders. However, Cornyn desperately defended the pastors, accusing Paxton of attacking dedicated faith leaders who defend the unborn and minister to families, suggesting Paxton needs “pastoral counseling” and that it reflects poorly on his campaign.
Conservatives rallied for Paxton, calling Cornyn an establishment hack. In the past, Paxton has mocked Cornyn as deceptive, flip-flopping, and ineffective after 24 years, predicting calculated attacks to seem “based” without risk.
Starting off the interaction, Gregg Keller posted, “There are five(!) people listed on Cornyn’s Evangelical Faith Council. Three of them (Lucado, Graham, Reyes) are named supporters of pro-refugee resettlement/amnesty group Evangelical Immigration Table. #txsen”
In a desperate attempt to deflect blame, Sen. John Cornyn responded, “There he goes again: this time attacking pastors who have dedicated their lives to bringing people to Christ, defending the unborn, and ministering to families in their hardest moments says far more about Ken Paxton’s campaign than it does about them. Paxton obviously needs some pastoral counseling. Texas respects its pastors.”
Posting the damning information, one viral post read, “John Cornyn goes all in on open borders and amnesty, and endorses a group promoting open borders and amnesty. His campaign is officially pro-amnesty.” Additionaly, the same user posted screenshots of the controversial program.
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The Evangelical Immigration Table pushes radical immigration reform for illegal immigrants to gain legal permanent residency or citizenship. One section on the website indicates that the program “Establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents.”
Another section read, “IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES: Most immigrants require legal counsel and support at some point or another. Learn about several evangelical organizations that help to provide authorized, affordable immigration legal services.”
Responding in the comments, one conservative said, “Of course. Everybody in Texas join me and vote for Ken Paxton in the runoff. ” Another added, “I hate this so much. Nothing about foreign nationals helps US citizens (unless you’re a big business).”
Paxton has repeatedly attacked the RINO for his fake conservative values. Making a prediction earlier this year, he noted, “Somewhere in DC, John Cornyn is currently in a strategy session asking the correct verbiage to attack leadership to appear based while not actually upsetting anyone.”
Roughly a month later, he added, “John Cornyn did exactly what I predicted. In one week, I’ve made him more conservative than in the past 24 years. The historic flip-flop’s great and all, but why aren’t you calling out your buddies like McConnell opposing the bill? Tell the American people who’s opposing this.”
In another appearance, he declared, “He’s been in office since I was in college, and I’m 63… And he’s been up here for 24 years. And I don’t care what he says. He’s a deceptive guy, a misleading guy. You know why? Because he doesn’t have a single thing to run on.”
Featured image: The United States Department of Justice, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_Attorney_General_Ken_Paxton_delivers_remarks.jpg