Two days after U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, revealed he will challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s Republican primary, the Cornyn campaign is announcing an endorsement by George Strake, a former state Republican party chairman and, perhaps more importantly, a strong early backer of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz‘s senate campaign.

“I’m a Texas Republican, as conservative as they come,” Strake writes in a letter that the Cornyn camp plans to release today. “In the last election, I was an early supporter of Ted Cruz and I’m proud of the impact he’s made in the United States Senate. My strong belief is that he and Senator John Cornyn make the best conservative team of any Senate delegation in America.”

Stockman has cited Cornyn’s unwillingness to back Cruz in the recent government shutdown fight as a main reason why he is challenging him. Cruz has said he does not plan to get involved in the race.

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Aman Batheja was a political reporter and editor for the Tribune from 2012 to 2019. Previously he worked for eight years at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, most of that time covering state and local politics....