Barton said he had prayed on the issue, but won't run against Cornyn. | AP Photos Barton won't run against Cornyn

Evangelical historian David Barton will not challenge Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary, he announced on Glenn Beck’s radio show on Wednesday.

“The time is just not right for me,” Barton said on TheBlaze, disappointing Beck, who along with other tea party activists had hoped Barton could unseat the senator.


Barton said he had prayed on the issue, conducted polls and research, but even though they felt the race was winnable, he won’t enter the election against the Texas Republican, who is seeking reelection next year.

Barton and Beck agreed that it looks like without him or the other ideal candidate, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Cornyn’s seat seems to be safe.

“The big stuff that Cornyn did to really raise his profile happened really late in the political cycle,” Barton said. “Had it happened four, five, six months ago as opposed to just what he did three, four, five weeks ago, it would have really accelerated this a lot more. … In order to get the public behind, he really stepped in it too late in the cycle.”

Mounting a campaign against the well-financed Cornyn would also be a challenge, Barton admitted.

“In order to be outspent only five to one, I’d have to raise $200,000 a day from now until the election,” Barton said. “It is kind of doable,” he said when asked but noted that the first $3 million or $4 million are “easy” — the concern is whether the money would keep coming.

Barton said a Senate campaign in the future remains “definitely a possibility.”

In response to Barton’s announcement, Cornyn’s office pointed to a poll from Public Policy Polling that shows Cornyn beating Barton in a hypothetical primary 51 percent to 18 percent with 31 percent undecided. Forty-nine percent said they preferred a more conservative candidate than Cornyn, however, compared with 33 percent set on the senator.

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