{"id":19036,"date":"2026-07-27T17:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19036"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:41:36","slug":"years-of-scandals-havent-stopped-ken-paxton-can-james-talarico-change-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19036","title":{"rendered":"Years of scandals haven&#8217;t stopped Ken Paxton. Can James Talarico change that?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Eight years ago, during a campaign for Texas attorney general, Justin Nelson ran television advertisements with security camera footage of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ken-paxton\">Ken Paxton<\/a> pocketing an expensive pen that didn&#8217;t belong to him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Four years ago, George P. Bush went after Paxton by putting up billboards that said \u201che&#8217;s a crook\u201d next to his mugshot from when he was charged with securities fraud. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And earlier this year, U.S. Sen John Cornyn said \u201cjudgment day is coming\u201d as he tried to fend off <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-senate-cornyn-paxton-trump-talarico-4fa609e7ddb93b47ac4e3398a12a472e\">a Republican primary challenge from Paxton<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">All of them lost. Now the question is whether <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/james-talarico-texas-senate-cornyn-crockett-08c8716aed7e66c29d7e29f2c035ac5d\">James Talarico<\/a>, who topped Rep. Jasmine Crockett in an expensive and <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-election-senate-crockett-talarico-cornyn-paxton-hunt-4d2fa601c0dab451c2cbd7c6f1483547\">fiercely contested Democratic primary<\/a>, will have any more luck as he faces off against Paxton in one of the country&#8217;s most closely watched U.S. Senate races. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe guy\u2019s ability to take shots and just keep moving on and stay in elected office is unlike anything I\u2019ve ever seen in my career, in 25 years of running campaigns,\u201d said Ash Wright, who worked as a senior adviser to Bush. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Paxton has never been convicted, and he&#8217;s survived by championing conservative legal battles over immigration, abortion and transgender issues in a Republican-dominated state. Much like President Donald Trump, he&#8217;s long portrayed himself as the victim of political persecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Former Paxton challengers and a half dozen campaign strategists who worked against him warned that Texans may tune out any attempt to revive scandals that they&#8217;ve heard about for years, especially when rigid partisanship has convinced voters to be extraordinarily forgiving of candidates\u2019 trespasses. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">However, Talarico&#8217;s team has studied the previous races and is attempting its own version of the playbook by trying to paint Paxton as part of a broader culture of corruption that has failed to improve people&#8217;s lives. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Paxton\u2019s campaign suggested Talarico&#8217;s claims were aimed at distracting voters from a record of \u201cout-of-touch views.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cEvery time a fighter, like President Donald Trump and now Ken Paxton, stands up to the permanent political class, even after they are completely acquitted of wrongdoing, people like James Talarico continue pushing the same accusations and claiming corruption,\u201d Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Paxton was first elected as Texas attorney general in 2014, and Nelson ran against him in 2018. A Democratic lawyer from Austin, Nelson made Paxton&#8217;s indictment on charges of securities fraud central to his campaign, and he poked fun at him for picking up another lawyer&#8217;s $1,000 pen after finding it at a courthouse security checkpoint. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cVote Justin Nelson for Texas attorney general,\u201d the narrator said. \u201cHe will fight on behalf of all Texans. And he won\u2019t steal your pen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Nelson argued that his approach was effective, reflected in Paxton&#8217;s narrow margin of 3.6 percentage points in a year when Republican Greg Abbott was reelected as Texas governor by more than 13 percentage points. Nelson&#8217;s campaign spent roughly $6.5 million, about half of what Paxton&#8217;s campaign spent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cMy message was working,&#8221; Nelson said. \u201cI just needed to go louder and longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In 2022, Paxton faced a Republican primary challenge from George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner and the grandson and nephew of two former presidents from the state. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The securities fraud case was ongoing, and Paxton was also under federal investigation over accusations that he abused his position to benefit an Austin real estate developer, took bribes and retaliated against whistleblower employees. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Paxton responded by portraying himself as a Trump-era Republican and Bush as the heir to a privileged political legacy. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Pro-Paxton organizations spent more than $20 million, about twice as much as Bush and his allies. The race went to a runoff, in which <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-texas-runoff-attorney-general-1b22286b01dd970be456baff7a68705e\">Paxton defeated Bush<\/a> by 34 percentage points. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Paxton ran against Rochelle Garza, a Democratic civil rights lawyer from Brownsville, in the general election. She said her campaign had a 300-page opposition research file on Paxton but it was difficult to figure out how to approach his past because voters had heard about it for years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe amount of potential hits on Paxton can make message discipline challenging,\u201d Garza said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Paxton ran as the leading legal opponent of President Joe Biden, promoting a string of lawsuits against Biden&#8217;s Democratic administration on immigration, abortion and gender policy. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Overwhelmingly outspent, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-midterm-elections-biden-texas-ken-paxton-6cc7fcf20f6055e56903a9cba323c628\">Garza lost<\/a> by roughly 10 percentage points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">There was more trouble ahead for Paxton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He split with his wife, who later filed for divorce \u201con biblical grounds.\u201d He was also impeached by the Texas House, although the Senate acquitted him in 2023 and allowed him to remain in office. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/paxton-indictment-texas-d5e57fc6cd062c995ced91e9d2542199\">The securities fraud case ended in 2024<\/a>, and Paxton was directed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Throughout the years, he&#8217;s maintained strong support from Republican voters like David and Nancy Lapp, a retired couple from the small town of Wolfforth. They described him as a conservative warrior who has been a victim of persecution. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cHe\u2019s had his share of scandals, and almost all of them have, so it\u2019s not necessarily disqualifying anymore,\u201d said David Lapp, 76. \u201cHe\u2019s a flawed person, no doubt about it, but he fights for traditional American ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He added that &#8220;nowadays, as long as you\u2019re not in jail, they\u2019ll elect you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Biden&#8217;s Justice Department in 2024 <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ken-paxton-ag-federal-investigation-justice-department-b4c3469a90f1c546dcb69177c432a383\">decided not to prosecute Paxton<\/a> after the yearslong federal investigation, and Paxton went on to challenge Cornyn for his Senate seat. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Cornyn and his allies vastly outspent Paxton, blanketing the state with more than $90 million in advertising. After the race went to a runoff, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-texas-senate-endorsement-paxton-cornyn-adb4c7213fc2d0db0b29d0ab65d49384\">Trump endorsed Paxton<\/a>, and he won decisively. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-senate-talarico-paxton-political-corruption-21215a474f8bc740467d42ca60f403a0\">Talarico promised at a rally in Houston<\/a> the day after the Republican runoff to \u201cprosecute the case\u201d against Paxton, whom he called \u201cthe most corrupt politician in America.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since then, he has sought to introduce a newer question about Paxton, one that involves his office&#8217;s handling of a child sexual abuse case this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The attorney general&#8217;s office was assigned the felony case involving Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman after the county district attorney recused himself over a potential conflict of interest. After a hung jury trial last year, Hoffman agreed to state lawyers&#8217; offer in April to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors said the victim did not want to testify a second time. Hoffman served 60 days in jail and was not required to register as a sex offender.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Talarico said the plea agreement shows Paxton is willing to allow preferential treatment at Texans&#8217; expense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cHe is everything that\u2019s wrong with this broken, corrupt political system,\u201d Talarico said of Paxton at a rally in Del Rio last week. \u201cThis is the rot at the core of this broken political system. It\u2019s why we can\u2019t get ahead, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we save, because the system is rigged against us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Talarico reported having $21.5 million available last week, while Paxton reported having $7.5 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Democrat&#8217;s fundraising advantage could help him broadcast his message further than Paxton&#8217;s previous opponents have been able to do, Nelson said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cEven a little bit more money would have helped me,\u201d he said. \u201cI think James has a legitimate shot.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Del Rio, Texas, and Marc Levy in Wolfforth, Texas, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eight years ago, during a campaign for Texas attorney general, Justin Nelson ran television advertisements with security camera footage of Ken Paxton pocketing an expensive pen that didn&#8217;t belong to him. Four years ago, George P. Bush went after Paxton by putting up billboards that said \u201che&#8217;s a crook\u201d next to his mugshot from when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/75d8c96f-af6d-475d-b053-e72dd0396c7b\/wirestory_ed48f727f8df069935cb63660a278891_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}