Cornyn: Trump could ‘change the electoral map’

by Jordain Carney - 04/27/16 4:35 PM ET

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Wednesday that if Donald Trump wins the party’s nomination he could change where Republicans are competitive in November.

“He could change the electoral map in ways that we haven’t seen before,” he told reporters wheb asked about Trump’s potential impact on Senate races. “This disrupts the usual Republican versus Democrat, conservative versus liberal paradigm and I just think we don’t know how this will all turn out.”

{mosads}Cornyn’s comments come after Trump dominated primaries in five states Tuesday. With 954 delegates, according to Real Clear Politics, he’s the only GOP candidate who could win the party’s nomination on the first ballot at the convention in Cleveland.

But the Senate’s No. 2 Republican held off from urging his party to rally behind Trump, saying “after somebody gets 1,237 then I’ll be for uniting.”

Senate Republicans have been wary of linking themselves to Trump despite him leading the GOP race for months. Instead leadership, while disavowing some of his policies, have repeatedly said they will support whoever the nominee is.

If the GOP race goes to a second ballot at the convention lawmakers, some of whom will also be serving as delegates, could help determine who that is.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sidestepped a question this week about whether he would support the nominee who won his state on a second ballot.

“If we get to a second ballot, the Kentucky delegates will be freed from the obligation that was made on the first ballot. And if we get to a second ballot, we’ll see,” he told reporters.

Trump won the Kentucky primary earlier this year netting 17 delegates to Sen. Ted Cruz’s 15.

Republicans are defending 24 Senate seats in November, including in a handful of states previously carried by President Obama. Democrats are hoping that Trump or Cruz as the GOP nominee will give them an advantage with independent voters in tight races.

Cornyn, however, brushed aside a question about if he is worried.

“I am not fearful about self-government and voters picking their leaders. I think that’s who we are as a country. Nobody said it wouldn’t be messy sometimes and certainly we’ve proven it can be,” he told reporters.

His remarks are an apparent shift from earlier this year when he suggested that Trump could hurt the party in November.

“[Republicans] can’t have a nominee be an albatross around the down-ballot races,” he told CNN in February. “That’s a concern of mine.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is Trump’s only endorsement in the Senate.

Tags Donald Trump Jeff Sessions John Cornyn Mitch McConnell Ted Cruz