That fear is based on recent election data. In 2018, when O’Rourke came within 3 percentage points of defeating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, nearly every statewide Republican had the closest re-election of their career, even against dramatically underfunded Democratic opponents with little name recognition.

Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller all won their re-elections with just 51 percent of the vote in 2018, when four years earlier without O’Rourke at the top of the ticket they were all near 60 percent.....

But in some ways, Cornyn, who has been a senator for 20 years, illustrates the division in the party better than anyone. He was heavily booed during his appearance for his work on gun safety legislation in Congress, even as he called for unity. Many delegates are convinced Cornyn is compromising too much with Democrats, even though he said he would do nothing to infringe on their Second Amendment rights.

But booing and frustration with fellow Republicans doesn’t mean the rank-and-file members for the GOP want to see it lead to Democrats getting elected, said Michael Walton, a delegate from Spring. He said if Cornyn is the nominee again in 2026 — the next time he’s on the ballot — he’d vote for him to ensure Democrats don’t take the seat.