Republicans 'slow-walking into a disaster in Texas': officials

19 May

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with Kathleen Winn in 2021 (Gage Skidmore)

Controversial Republican firebrand and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is polling ahead of his soft-toned GOP rival Sen. John Cornyn, but Republican officials are not happy with his impending victory.

“It feels like Republicans are slow-walking into a disaster in Texas,” one senior Senate GOP aide told NOTUS. “Right now, it doesn’t look like John Cornyn has a path to victory against Ken Paxton, and Ken Paxton is completely capable of blowing a competitive general election. It’s fair to say folks on the Hill are getting concerned.”

NOTUS reports Cornyn is down substantially against Paxton in Texas Senate primary polls, but Paxton is polling behind Democratic contenders in the Texas general election, including Democratic state Rep. Colin Allred, who Sen. Ted Cruz defeated by less than 10 points in an election with President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. Trump isn’t running this time, and the incumbent president’s party traditionally suffers in the mid-terms. This, coupled with Paxton’s record of controversy, could give Democrats a boost in deep-red Texas.

Like Trump, Paxton’s ruby red political base is willing to overlook his personal failings, says the Texas Tribune, including an indictment from a Collin County grand jury on three felony counts of securities fraud and for failing to register as an investment adviser. Prosecutors accused him of offering to sell people stock in McKinney technology company without disclosing that the company was compensating him, a charge for which he faces up to 99 years in prison, if convicted.

Also, Paxton was impeached for allegedly using the powers of his AG office to protect Austin real estate developer and campaign donor Nate Paul for making false statements to banks. Seven of Paxton’s own top deputies reported him to the FBI, and their claims brought to light an affair Paxton had with one of Paul’s employees, which undercut his "family-values" conservative image.

But more Republicans in the Senate supported Paxton than opposed him, and he survived his impeachment in the Texas Senate.

However, Paxton’s support begins and ends with Republicans, and a general election containing independents and Democrats could topple him. In 2018 his statewide general election race for AG was a razor-edge 4-percentage point win against Democratic lawyer Justin Nelson.

If Paxton loses in Texas, it could help delete Republicans’ narrow majority in the Senate and stifle Trump’s agenda.

Read the full NOTUS report here.

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