Angela Paxton wants to clear the air.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Paxton, the estranged wife<\/a> of Ken Paxton, a conservative firebrand locked in a fierce battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, is urging voters in a new ad<\/a> to back the entire Republican ticket when they go to the polls next month.<\/p>\n While Mrs. Paxton doesn\u2019t mention her husband \u2014 whom she is divorcing<\/a>, alleging adultery \u2014 by name in the ad, she addresses \u201cthe elephant in the room\u201d by telling voters they should look past their qualms with any single candidate and think about the future of the Republican Party.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a general election, it\u2019s not as much about the individual players on the team. It\u2019s about getting the whole team across the finish line,\u201d she said. \u201cEither we hold every Republican seat, or we hand the future of Texas to the other team.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Paxton is trailing James Talarico, his Democratic opponent, in every recent poll, including one<\/a> released by The New York Times and Siena University on Saturday. While Democrats have not won a statewide election in Texas in more than 30 years, Republicans have warned that the Senate race, and others, are more competitive now than in recent memory.<\/p>\n The ad, funded by Texas PAC, a political action committee affiliated with the main super PAC for Senate Republican leaders, could be a further indication of concern about Mr. Paxton\u2019s chances in the race \u2014 especially among women. It also indicates that Mrs. Paxton is now part of a broader strategy to bolster the ticket.<\/p>\n She recently gave a speech<\/a> to a women\u2019s club in Texas where she made similar remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is, while we are the party of values, we have some vulnerabilities on our ballot,\u201d Mrs. Paxton told<\/a> the club, the Texas Federation of Republican Women on Sept. 18. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll be honest with you, I think Republican women will decide this election, because some of those vulnerabilities, I think, have been particularly alienating to women that hold our values.\u201d<\/p>\n She then added, \u201cBut if we lose it to the other team, the nuances that we want to fix with maybe a certain candidate are nothing compared to what it\u2019s going to take to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Mr. Paxton\u2019s campaign touted a new ad<\/a> featuring his daughter Mattie.<\/p>\n A spokesman for Mrs. Paxton, a Republican state senator who is not up for re-election this year, previously declined<\/a> to tell The Times whether she would vote for her husband. The divorce proceedings are ongoing, her spokesman confirmed Saturday.<\/p>\n Over his more than 20 years in elected office, Mr. Paxton has weathered multiple scandals, including a fraud<\/a> indictment, accusations of one other affair<\/a>, and impeachment<\/a> on bribery and abuse of office charges. None have resulted in a criminal conviction, and Mr. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing, saying the cases were witch hunts perpetrated by enemies within his own party.<\/p>\n