(CNN) — GOP leaders in Washington are ramping up pressure on Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt to drop out of the Texas Senate race, warning that his candidacy could cost their party tens of millions of dollars and even upend their midterm map.

But a defiant Hunt told CNN in an interview that he is “absolutely” staying in the heated three-way race against long-time incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and firebrand Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, even as senior Republicans accuse him of being a “spoiler” in the race that is now all but certain to lead to a costly runoff.

Hunt, a 44-year-old combat veteran and two-term House member, revealed that he planned to officially file for the race this week, setting aside weeks of GOP speculation about whether he would continue with his insurgent Senate campa

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