Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Friday that President Donald Trump can energize Texas Republicans and unite the party behind GOP Senate nominee and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton following a bitter and expensive primary.

Trump headlined a Republican National Committee fundraiser Thursday in Houston as Paxton battles Democrat James Talarico for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Before leaving Washington, Trump said he planned to devote more time to helping Paxton win the race, according to The Texas Tribune.

“I don’t, actually, believe Texas is going to go blue. I really don’t,” Van Duyne said in an interview on “Wake Up America” Friday morning, adding, “Ken Paxton has had hundreds of millions of dollars spent against him in the last couple of months, and I’m really relieved that the president’s coming down.”

She predicted that Trump will “energize the base. He’s going to come down here. He’s going to talk about what this president has been able to do, working with a Republican Congress, a Republican Senate, and why it’s so important to continue that.”

Van Duyne said Trump would also emphasize Paxton’s record as attorney general, including his numerous legal challenges against policies adopted under former President Joe Biden.

“He’s also going to highlight the great work that Ken Paxton has done for the state of Texas: how he has fought against the craziness of the Biden administration, has sued and successfully sued, which has not only been great for Texas, but great for the rest of the country,” Van Duyne said.

“So I welcome the president down here,” she continued. “You know, last night he was in Houston, and then next month, he’s going to be here for the midterm convention. And I’m very excited because he does great things to energize the base.”

“And all those people go home and they energize their own communities,” added Van Duyne.

Trump’s visit came as a Texas Public Opinion Research poll showed Talarico leading Paxton 48% to 42%. The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Aug. 21-24 and had a margin of error of ±3.3 percentage points. Libertarian Ted Brown received 1%, while 7% were undecided.

Paxton defeated Cornyn in the May Republican runoff after Trump endorsed the attorney general shortly before the vote. The primary aggravated divisions dating to Paxton’s 2023 impeachment by the Republican-led Texas House. The Texas Senate later acquitted him.

Van Duyne said Republicans must put those divisions aside to preserve Trump’s policies on taxes and border security.

“I was here back in 2021 when I first got sworn in, and I saw the craziness on the floor from the Democrats,” Van Duyne said. “I saw, you know, massive takeovers of personal lives, of businesses, massive tax increases under a Democrat-led House. And I don’t want to see that again.”

She also criticized Talarico’s economic positions and terminology concerning women.

“You flip that to what James Talarico is talking about: increasing taxes, taking all the production and putting it into the government, having more government takeover, taking away people’s personal decisions,” Van Duyne said.

“And then he also reduces women to being described by their body parts, by their reproductive parts, referring to women as ‘neighbors with a uterus.’ And I don’t know about you, but I find that very offensive,” she added.

“I think the majority of Texans are going to find that offensive. And on Election Day, they’re going to show it,” said Van Duyne.