Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears during a rally for his senatorial campaign at George’s Banquet Hall in Waco, Texas, U.S. March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee
Kaylee Greenlee
REUTERS
“Lazy” is not a label a political candidate wants to wear.
It’s especially unhelpful when you’re asking people to contribute millions of dollars to fuel your campaign. It’s at best a distraction as your race rounds toward the final stretch. And when it’s spread by ideological allies? Uh-oh.
That’s one of several recent headaches Republican Ken Paxton and his campaign are dealing with in his battle against Democrat James Talarico for a U.S. Senate seat. Welcome to the Texas Senate Rundown, where we’ll also talk about some eye-popping news on Paxton’s wealth and the return of a wild story from more than a decade ago — one I know more than a little about.
Is Ken Paxton running a strong, effective campaign in Texas?
“Where’s Paxton?” Fox News host Jesse Watters demanded to know.
Watters, one of the network’s bloviating opinion hosts, popped off an epic 30-second rant about the Texas Republican on Aug. 5, warning that the candidate wasn’t hitting Talarico nearly hard enough for a race that’s essentially tied.
“Get out of your hole, Paxton, and do something. I can’t win this race for you. It’s not on Fox,” Watters said. “If you lose this seat … you should seek asylum in Mexico.”
Days later, veteran political reporter Jim Geraghty made a more complete case in the conservative journal National Review, citing another political observer’s use of the L-word. With Paxton’s history of scandal, both personal and official, Geraghty argued: “You can’t be a terrible reprobate and be a lazy candidate. At minimum, you must be a hard-working terrible reprobate.”
Don’t dismiss Geraghty as a squishy liberal, either. In the same piece, he called Talarico “a reanimated Howdy Doody doll” and ran down the Democrat’s greatest hits about gender, religion and how the American flag is a “complicated symbol.”
My take: Paxton has never been a campaign dynamo. He’s won several elections to the state House and Senate and mostly cruised to three terms as attorney general. But his career took off at a time when other Republicans such as George W. Bush, Phil Gramm and Rick Perry had done the heavy lifting of making Texas a GOP state. Paxton won primaries, for which he deserves credit. But he surfed in the wake of relatively easy Republican dominance.
If you’re a baseball fan, think of Paxton as a replacement-level player.
He’s never faced a campaign opponent with the resources that Talarico has. The Democrat is dominating in campaign advertising as Paxton tries to raise money for the final fall stretch. Some of that is natural — Talarico’s short career as a state representative from Austin hasn’t given him a statewide profile, so he has to build one.
Paxton, it appears, is about to get some significant help. President Donald Trump will appear at a fundraiser Aug. 27 in Houston, and outside groups are testing the waters on advertising targeting Talarico.
Watters’ criticism is unfair in one way. Paxton is probably spending the vast majority of his time on the phone with donors. That’s a more vital campaign task now than barnstorming the state trashing Talarico.
But if Paxton’s next fundraising report is underwhelming, Watters and Geraghty will have plenty of company — on the right! — in questioning what Paxton is actually doing to win this race.
Ken Paxton’s eye-popping wealth raises questions about his service
Paxton has grown wealthy during his 25 years in public office. He started with investments in businesses and built a real-estate portfolio. Now, according to ethics paperwork he filed Aug. 13 with the Senate, his net worth could be as much as $27 million.
Last year, in his first such disclosure as a candidate, he listed assets and liabilities suggesting a net worth of nearly $13 million. How did he double that while serving as state attorney general and running for the Senate?
His investments in mutual funds have done well as the stock market has continued an impressive run. But several of his real-estate holdings skyrocketed, a curious change from year to year.
My take: Americans are used to their politicians being or getting wealthy, even if they don’t love it.
For Paxton, though, it reinforces a narrative he can’t get away from: corruption. He spent years in court on securities-fraud charges, and the Texas House impeached him over allegations he abused his office to help himself and a campaign donor.
People attend a rally for Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico in San Antonio. Joel Angel Juarez REUTERS
He ultimately prevailed in both forums, but, combined with revelations of extramarital affairs, many Texans have the sense that Paxton is shady. In the Trump era, defeating the political machine is a badge of honor. For others, there was simply too much evidence of wrongdoing, even if he fended off convictions.
There’s long been a sense that Paxton profits from political connections. One piece of his investment portfolio, highlighted by The New York Times, is a prime example. It noted that Paxton owned a cellular tower that appears to be on the Frisco grounds of a hospital where Paxton served on the board of directors. There’s no direct evidence of wrongdoing in the decades-old deal, but it smacks of the kind of arrangement that’s much easier for someone in public office to attain.
Add it all up, and voters who might otherwise sigh and dismiss a Senate candidate’s wealth have reason to wonder if Paxton will take his grift to Washington and work harder on behalf of his portfolio than their interests.
Ken Paxton and the purloined Mont Blanc pen
Speaking of stories that cast shadows over Paxton’s ethical standing, the Talarico campaign recently resurrected one from 2013. A Collin County lawyer accidentally left his expensive Montblanc pen in a bin after he went through a courthouse security checkpoint and was sick that he lost the gift from his wife. As luck would have it, surveillance video identified the person who picked it up: Ken Paxton.
The county sheriff at the time, who knew both men, arranged its return. Paxton said he innocently swept up the pen with his other belongings. Now, owner Joe Joplin, a Collin County Democrat, is endorsing Talarico in an ad — and the campaign’s merch store has sold out of writing implements labeled “Not Ken Paxton’s Pen.”
My take: The story arrived in late 2014, not long after Paxton won election as attorney general. At the time, it seemed more funny than particularly instructive. But, again, when it comes to narrative, it fits the general feeling that there are few, um, opportunities for personal gain that Paxton will pass up.
The story was originally broken by Christy Hoppe, the longtime Austin reporter and bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News. I was her editor at the time. It was the kind of scoop Hoppe, since retired, had a gift for — and she wrote the heck out of it, too. Take a few minutes and read her original story.
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico speaks during a rally in San Antonio in May. Joel Angel Juarez REUTERS Do you have an opinion on this topic? Tell us!
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Ryan J. Rusak is opinion editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He grew up in Benbrook and is a TCU graduate. He spent more than 15 years as a political journalist, overseeing coverage of four presidential elections and several sessions of the Texas Legislature. He writes about Fort Worth/Tarrant County politics and government, along with Texas and national politics, education, social and cultural issues, and occasionally sports, music and pop culture. Rusak, who lives in east Fort Worth, was recently named Star Opinion Writer of the Year for 2024 by Texas Managing Editors, a news industry group.