Paxton, Talarico Senate fight moves to Dallas convention; Paxton should get big GOP boost

quote:

---

Now, with the election two months away, Talarico is going harder at Paxton just as Republicans prepare to give the attorney general a lift at their convention-style rally this week in Dallas.

The event, headlined by President Donald Trump, comes as Paxton faces questions about his fundraising and campaign tactics – and criticism from former rival John Cornyn, who branded him "lazy."

During a podcast conversation with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released Wednesday, Trump said Paxton would be a major focus of the convention.

"We've got to get him elected" over "this weirdo, this Freako," Trump said.

---

quote:

---

Trump and other Republicans are expected to pile on the Democratic state representative at the convention.

"What's the over-under, 100?" asked GOP consultant Vinny Minchillo, who has worked for Trump's campaigns, predicting how often speakers will invoke Talarico. "You're going to hear his name a lot."

Talarico entered the summer with a $21.5 million-to-$1.8 million cash-on-hand advantage and largely had the airwaves to himself, running glowing biographical ads.

"Paxton and his team know they have not done enough," Minchillo said. "They are about to let the hounds out."

Paxton sounded an urgent note at a recent Parker County rally. "We've only got one Texas," he said. "If we lose our one Texas, there's nowhere else to go."

---

quote:

---

Democratic voters, meanwhile, have turned out in force this year, increasing the pressure on Republicans to mobilize their own.

Paxton has sought to do that, portraying Talarico as a "deceiver," mocking him as "Six-gender Jimmy" and denouncing his 2021 remark that "God is nonbinary."

Talarico now says there are "two sexes, men and women" and that his comment about God meant that God cannot be defined by human categories.

Veteran GOP strategist Dave Carney said Republicans have plenty more to tell voters about what they see as Talarico's support for boys playing in girls' sports, open borders and high taxes.

---

quote:

---

Talarico needs strong Democratic turnout and a sizable share of independents and crossover Republicans to break the party's three-decade losing streak in statewide races.

He also must unite Democrats after a divisive primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas. Crockett endorsed him the next day but said she would focus on down-ballot candidates.

Talarico has pledged $25 million for Black voter outreach and last week announced a Black voter engagement team.

Paxton has not yet challenged Talarico on television, but national Republicans and allied groups are expected to spend heavily against him.

---

quote:

---

For all the back-and-forth, the candidates still have no debate scheduled. Talarico has accepted three televised invitations. Paxton has said he'll debate but has yet to agree to one.

---

quote:

---

Republicans have pitched the convention as an opportunity to do just that, with the fates of everyone from Paxton to down-ballot candidates potentially reliant on lower-propensity MAGA voters, who helped deliver the GOP a trifecta in Washington in 2024 but have proven unreliable when Trump is not on the ballot. Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican National Committee, has described the event as a “Trumpapalooza,” making clear that candidates who show up are associated with the president.

Democrats, meanwhile, are deploying their own elected officials to Dallas for counterprogramming, and they believe the Trump-forward display could whip their own voters up into a frenzy with early voting less than six weeks away.

Vice President JD Vance will deliver a keynote address on Wednesday evening, the first night of the convention, and Trump will close out the event with a speech Thursday.

---

quote:

---

Ten Texas politicians and candidates will take the stage along with the president and Republican party leaders. The list includes Paxton, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Ted Cruz. Several Texas members of Congress and congressional candidates — most of them in highly competitive races — will speak as well, including three of the five nominees in seats redrawn last summer with the intention of flipping them to GOP control.

---

quote:

---

Trump’s super PAC coffers, brimming with more than $400 million, are highly coveted by a number of campaigns in Texas and elsewhere, including other Senate battlegrounds where advertising dollars go much further. Trump’s political team made its first general election ad buy on Saturday in Texas — to the tune of $10 million for streaming and digital ads boosting Paxton and attacking Talarico — emphasizing the centrality of the Lone Star State to the president’s plans this cycle.

Trump said last week that he has close to $1 billion available for political spending, and that he plans to use up to $500 million in the midterms.

The president has said he’s committed to helping Paxton campaign while also disparaging his appearance on multiple occasions last week. At one point, the president said that while “you might not like the way he dresses” or “the way he looks,” Paxton has been the best attorney general in the country.

“We’re going to have a lot of speakers,” Trump told Patrick of the convention. “And the ones we want to focus on will be, obviously, Ken Paxton. We got to get him elected. He’s a good man. I know him very well. He really was a great attorney general.”

---