DALLAS — For months, Republicans have fretted about their man in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, running in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, has lagged in both the polls and fundraising relative to past Republican candidates. Public polling has shown him either tied or slightly behind Democrat James Talarico, whom he has trailed financially by tens of millions of dollars.
Republicans did their best to help Paxton overcome these troubles at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas this week. President Donald Trump urged his supporters to back Paxton and promised to do all he could to give Paxton a boost in the weeks before November’s elections.
“I’ll do tele-town halls, and I’ll be coming back to Texas because we have to elect Ken Paxton,” Trump said from the convention stage. “And if I have to, I’ll come back twice or three times.”
Republicans went into the convention hoping Trump’s appearance in Paxton’s backyard could help boost enthusiasm among Republicans who voted in the last presidential election but who may be inclined to stay home during this year’s midterms without Trump on the ticket. Republicans nationwide have voiced concerns about their core voters appearing unmotivated to turn out in the numbers needed to win key elections.
“Please pretend that I’m running and get out the vote on November 3rd,” Trump said.
Paxton’s critics remain confident, however, that the convention will have a limited effect on courting the moderate Republican and swing voters needed to win the state. Paxton has been weighed down by a past littered with personal and legal scandals that have disturbed moderate voters. And Trump is polling at record lows, with his approval rating hovering in the mid-30s for months. Numerous Republicans running in competitive House and Senate races — including the key battlegrounds of Alaska, Maine, Iowa and New Hampshire — opted to skip this week’s convention.
Outside the immediate blocks around the American Airlines Center, the convention had a relatively muted footprint in Dallas, itself a Democratic stronghold in a red state. The convention attendees were already mostly passionate Trump supporters who didn’t need much persuading to support the Republican ticket.
“Maybe [Trump] will get that core MAGA base, but that doesn’t get the majority,” Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pennsylvania) said during a news conference organized by the Democratic National Committee, which was held near the convention.
Still, the event presented a considerable platform to help Paxton catch up in his lackluster fundraising. Paxton has been far outraised by Talarico, pulling in only $9.2 million as of the end of June and having less than $2 million on hand. Talarico raised more than $60 million in the same time frame and has more than $21 million sitting in the bank.
Paxton made an appeal for contributions from the convention stage Wednesday, saying that Talarico “is the most radical Democrat in Texas history, but he’s also the most well-funded, and that’s why today I need your prayers, your votes, and your support.”
Truth and Courage PAC, a super PAC aligned with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), hosted a fundraiser for Paxton on the sidelines of the midterm convention on Thursday. Both Cruz and Paxton attended.
Republicans outside Texas have already come to Paxton’s aid to counter Talarico’s enormous cash inflow. Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC invested more than $10 million to support Paxton, and Elon Musk’s America PAC announced a quarter-million-dollar investment this month. Cruz’s super PAC also poured more than $1.75 million into the race before the convention.
Several convention attendees noted that the president’s influence might heal some intraparty wounds left from a vicious primary fight where sitting Sen. John Cornyn and his allies worked hard to persuade moderate Republicans and independents that Paxton was grossly unfit for office.
David Lethe, a Republican Party precinct chair in Collin County, Texas, who voted for Cornyn in the primary, said he hoped the convention would push Republicans unmotivated to turn out for Paxton to “put on our big-boy pants and come together.”
Lethe said he fully supports Paxton’s policies and only voted for Cornyn in the primary because he thought the four-term incumbent would give Republicans better odds in the general election.
Tim Bates, another state party precinct chair in Plano who attended the convention, said he wished Cornyn had appeared to help unify all corners of the party behind their Senate candidate. Bates has long supported Paxton and said he’s been trying to get Cornyn removed for more than a decade. But he always voted for Cornyn to support the party ticket.
“He would have been applauded,” Bates said of Cornyn. “At the this year’s Republican convention in Texas, there’s a lot of talk about unity and bringing us back together, and that’s why I thought it’s a brilliant idea to have a midterm convention.”
Cornyn’s office said he was not invited to the convention. The senator has continued to criticize Paxton’s candidacy since losing the May primary runoff, telling the Texas Tribune that Paxton is “lazy and doesn’t raise money” and is “making this harder than it needs to be.” While his prodigious fundraising operation continues to raise money for Senate candidates across the country for the general election, Cornyn has not gotten involved in his home state.
“Ken Paxton’s only cards he can play right now is to saddle up with the president,” said Jim Ross, the mayor of Arlington, Texas. Ross, an independent, has previously voted for Republican and Democratic candidates, including Cornyn. He is backing Talarico.
Paxton wasn’t the only vulnerable Republican who took the stage. Republican candidates in Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina also spoke at the convention, and all got shout-outs from Trump on the stage.
But Trump pinned his focus on Paxton, fixating on his support as attorney general for conservative causes. He also ribbed Paxton for his appearance and muted stage presence but urged voters to turn out in November for him anyway.
“He may not dress right, he may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best looking guy I’ve ever seen, but you know what he is? He’s the greatest attorney general in America and he deserves to be your next senator,” Trump said. “I’m sorry, Ken.”
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