Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, is seeking the Republican nomination for US Senate in what has become an unexpectedly competitive race in a state that has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Running against Democratic state legislator James Talarico, Paxton finds himself in a dead heat with some polls showing his opponent leading, according to James Henson, a political scientist at the University of Texas who directs the Texas Politics Project.
Paxton’s campaign has been marked by a series of controversies spanning decades. These include a 2011 allegation involving stock transferred to him by a tech entrepreneur who said God commanded the gift, a 2013 incident over a pen allegedly taken from another lawyer, a 2020 FBI investigation into whether he abused his office to benefit a real estate donor in exchange for home renovations and employment for a woman with whom he was having an affair, and a 2022 incident in which his wife allegedly helped him evade a subpoena. Paxton has denied or disputed these allegations. He was impeached by the Republican-led Texas legislature on abuse-of-office charges and was acquitted. Earlier this year, his wife filed for divorce on “biblical grounds.”
Recent reporting has added to Paxton’s challenges. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that in 2024, Paxton was filmed at a New Year’s Eve party in Dubai alongside an extramarital girlfriend and two men facing federal healthcare fraud indictments who were considered fugitives. One of the men had donated $190,000 to Paxton’s campaign.
Paxton has avoided debating Talarico, which observers say has allowed his opponent’s campaign to characterize him as evasive. Leaked audio clips from recent weeks show Paxton acknowledging to conservative allies that he and other Republicans in Texas are struggling, with one clip suggesting he felt Trump’s recent midterm convention in the state had hurt rather than helped. Political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus of the University of Houston characterized the leaked recordings as “a bad look for Ken Paxton.” Despite these headwinds, conservative groups are spending millions to support Paxton’s candidacy in what has become one of the most expensive Senate races in US history.
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