Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for Senate from the Lone Star State, privately told a group of conservative donors and lobbyists that GOP polling numbers suffered as a result of the party’s much-hyped midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month.
“To be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention, it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped,” Paxton told the gathering last week, according to audio obtained by the New York Times. “Right now, yeah, not good.”
Paxton is locked in a tight battle with State Rep. James Talarico, who is trying to be the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988. Talarico currently leads Paxton by 2.9 percentage points according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
The candidate’s assessment of the convention’s effect on his polling differed from that of Trump himself, who told reporters in Ireland Sept. 13: “I think the fact that we had such a successful convention really helped Ken Paxton. He was a big part of it. And look, I mean, he was a great attorney general. Ken Paxton was a great attorney general, and continues to be, and I think that counts for a lot … I hear that the convention helped Ken Paxton a lot.”
Paxton campaign adviser Nick Maddux described the story as “more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist. Our latest poll from the last week has Ken Paxton leading by three points, and every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September. Ken Paxton is going to win this race, and he looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump including when he comes to Texas this week.”
Trump is scheduled to appear at a Peterbil Motors facility in Denton, Texas Thursday, part of his closing push to get Republican candidates elected and keep control of the House and Senate.
Paxton, 63, unseated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a bitter GOP primary runoff earlier this year despite a checkered personal and political history that includes his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filing for divorce on “biblical grounds” (she’s since implored voters to keep the seat in Republican hands) and the AG being impeached by the Texas legislature in May 2023 on corruption charges (he was ultimately acquitted).
Over the weekend, The Post reported that the Senate Leadership Fund, affiliated with Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), has put $100 million behind Paxton, with plans to keep spending until Election Day.
“It’s a red wall kind of thing,” a source said, adding: “We only spend money where we think we can make a difference.”
