Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, went on the defensive at a Fort Worth media event on Monday, responding to campaign trail attacks and emphasizing moderation while casting his opponent, state Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), as a radical.
Presenting the same economic plan he outlined in his speech to the GOP midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month, Paxton said he is ready to compromise with Democrats and stopped short of hardline positions on data centers and immigration during a question-and-answer session with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council (USHBC).
On other issues, however, Paxton remained supportive of President Donald Trump, and critical of the President Joe Biden administration and of Talarico.
Data Centers and Immigration
Paxton reiterated his guardrailed approach to data centers and said he supports the continued use of work authorization programs, avoiding stringent positions on either issue.
“We need to have a policy that benefits the Americans that are here,” Paxton said of immigration. “And that likely means that we have to let people in that can fulfill some of these jobs that we don’t have people for.”
Paxton said that American business owners in several industries, including agriculture and construction, have told him they continue to rely on immigrant labor.
Asked about data centers, Paxton described his response as “a yes, with conditions.”
“We have to make sure that the Chinese — they can have nothing to do with our data centers, because we all know we’re competing against them,” Paxton said.
“It can’t be a no, because we won’t survive that.”
Paxton has pledged to author legislation in the U.S. Senate that would ban the use of Chinese technology in American data centers. In addition, he has supported Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposals for data center development, including a prohibition on development in rural Texas neighborhoods, as well as mandates that data centers fund their own electricity and use closed-loop water systems for cooling.
‘Protecting the Texas Promise’
Like Talarico, Paxton has taken an economic tack on the campaign trail after kicking off his “Protecting the Texas Promise” tour in August with a four-point tax presentation.
When asked about how he could address affordability concerns in the U.S. Senate, Paxton reiterated the plan, which calls for a $50,000 deduction for first-time home purchases, a $25,000 deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses, a $5,000 “healthy living” deduction that could apply to expenses such as gym memberships or weight loss drugs, and a doubling of the child tax credit.
In addition, Paxton proposed government deregulation to lower the costs of both energy and health care, elaborating on the latter issue by recounting the eye injury he sustained as a child.
“It took three and a half days to get to an ophthalmologist, and I had to go outside the system. Those three days… I should have been on my back in a hospital,” Paxton said.
“It also impacted me in understanding a government health system that isn’t really designed to be efficient, cost effective, or effective from a health standpoint. It’s rationed.”
Negative Campaigning
The interviewer, USHBC President Javier Palomarez, gave Paxton a chance to explain a plea deal that his office offered to a Waco man charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child — the subject of several campaign trail attacks by Talarico.
The man, Adam Hoffman, was indicted in 2024 on the charge, which carried a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison. He ultimately served 60 days.
“It’s been very misrepresented,” Paxton said of the case, which he has seldom addressed during his campaign.
Paxton said the initial trial resulted in a 7-to-5 jury split, and further litigation would require more testimony by the victim, who was unwilling to take the stand again.
“Five jurors weren’t confident of that testimony for some reason. In some ways, I don’t blame that kid for not wanting to go through that,” Paxton said.
“It wasn’t what we wanted, but we did not control that situation. We did our best to present the case. … It’s more important to make sure that this kid is protected than to get the verdict that we actually want.”
Paxton doubled down on characterizing Talarico as a radical, quoting Talarico’s critique of capitalism as “oppressive” and recalling Talarico’s opposition to bills that would have required Texas schoolchildren to compete in public school sports according to their physical sex.
“I have not switched a single view,” Paxton said.
In addition, Paxton pledged to “work across the aisle” in Washington, citing his experience working with Democratic lawmakers as a member of the Texas Senate.
“If you want to get things done, no one gets a hundred percent in the Legislature. No one,” Paxton said. “But there are fundamentals I’m not going to give in on.”
The USHBC will hold an event with Talarico in McAllen on Wednesday, September 30.