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WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 03: Jesse Watters hosts “Jesse Watters Primetime” at FOX News D.C. Bureau on November 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Shannon Finney\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Shannon Finney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Last week, the Houston Chronicle editorial board made some headlines after publishing an early endorsement<\/a> in the race to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. We encouraged Republicans and Democrats alike to back state Rep. James Talarico.<\/p>\n The call was early \u2014 it was also easy. The motivating factor wasn\u2019t only that Talarico, a school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, aspires to represent all Texans from a moderate \u201c50-yard line\u201d view (though he does).\u00a0<\/p>\n Nor was it just that Attorney General Ken Paxton has a track record of self-serving corruption in office while fumbling<\/a> on critical issues like stopping sex trafficking (though he does that, too).\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n No. The critical reason for such a quick endorsement is because this race, perhaps more than any other on the ballot, is divided between one side fighting for everyday Texans, and another fighting to protect a status quo where political corruption perpetuates under a cloud of partisan culture war. This isn\u2019t Republicans vs. Democrats or liberals vs. conservatives. It is Texas vs. Washington. And if you doubt it, just look for the loudest voices in the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n The harshest attacks against Paxton haven’t come from D.C. They haven\u2019t even come from Democrats. They come from his fellow Texas Republicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s Rick Perry who attacked Paxton<\/a> for offering a plea deal to a \u201cMAN WHO ADMITTED TO MOLESTING a child to serve only ONE DAY IN JAIL,\u201d as the former governor posted on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s Texas House Republicans who\u00a0impeached<\/a> Paxton for bribery, abuse of public trust, false statements and disregard of official duty.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s Sen. John Cornyn who in his primary against Paxton ran ads warning that<\/a>, “while predators hunted children, Paxton hunted for burner phones to hide his affairs.”<\/p>\n These Republicans know that Paxton doesn\u2019t fight for Texans. He doesn\u2019t even fight for fellow Republicans or conservative ideals. Paxton is a man who has no loyalty except to himself \u2014 a fact that onetime supporters, from his fired staffers to his own wife, have learned the hard way.<\/p>\n The loudest attacks on Talarico, on the other hand, aren\u2019t coming from Texans. Like a sub-par picante sauce<\/a>, the anti-Talarico crowd is taking its talking points from New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n After Paxton won his Republican primary, White House staffer Stephen Miller went on Fox News<\/a> to rant about Talarico with host Jesse Watters, deeming the state representative to be \u201csoy\u201d \u2014 whatever that means. Putting aside the fact that the White House probably shouldn\u2019t talk about soy given the record-high number of farm bankruptcies<\/a>, the reality is that Miller is a lifelong political staffer originally from California<\/a>. Watters is from Philadelphia<\/a>. And Fox News is based in midtown Manhattan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n None of them actually need to care about Texas because they don\u2019t live here. They treat our election like a professional wrestling match \u2014 full of entertaining namecalling and general fakery. It juices ratings. It riles up national voters. And it stops folks from noticing that Paxton \u2014 like so many other crooked politicians \u2014 miraculously saw his personal wealth grow by millions<\/a> while in public office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n If the likes of Miller and Watters actually cared about Texas, they\u2019d spend their time on screen talking about how the two candidates will address the biggest issues facing all Texans, like the future of water in our state, persistent inflation and unaffordable healthcare.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alas, putting Texans first doesn’t make for the ratings that cable news shows need to justify their existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n