Republican former state lawmaker vows he’ll ‘never’ support Paxton in new ad as Texas Senate race heats up

As Republicans ramp up spending for Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton , a top group supporting his Democratic opponent, James Talarico , is pushing back with a new surrogate: a Republican former state lawmaker who voted to impeach Paxton in 2023.

“I’ll never trust Ken Paxton, I’ll never support Ken Paxton and the last place he should be is the United States Senate,” former state Rep. Glenn Rogers says in a new 30-second ad for the pro-Talarico Lone Star Rising PAC.

The ad will run statewide on digital and streaming platforms as part of the group’s eight-figure effort in the general election, according to a spokesperson. It comes as Democrats confront a spike in outside GOP spending in recent days, suddenly giving Paxton’s side a huge advertising advantage in the closing weeks of the tight race.

The GOP stampede away from Trump is growing — including in pretty red districts

Rogers, a rancher and veterinarian from outside Fort Worth, is an outspoken critic of the direction of the Republican Party in Texas. He lost his seat in the 2024 primary as part of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to target incumbents who opposed his push for school vouchers. Abbott endorsed Rogers’ challenger, Mike Olcott — as did Paxton, who was seeking his own revenge after the impeachment saga.

The Republican-led Texas House impeached Paxton in 2023 in a large bipartisan vote, accusing him of abusing his office to help a wealthy friend and donor. The state Senate, also with a GOP majority, acquitted Paxton months later, under pressure from President Donald Trump.

Paxton, in an effort to unify the GOP after the nasty primary, has campaigned with some of the House Republicans who supported his impeachment.

Talarico’s campaign has been making a sustained effort to show off support from Republicans and those who have known Paxton well. He has rolled out a “Republicans for Talarico” coalition and unveiled endorsements from Dan Cogdell, a Paxton lawyer in the impeachment trial, and David Maxwell, a former top Paxton staffer who testified in his impeachment trial.

Paxton and his allies have largely dismissed the ongoing political fallout from the impeachment case, which he has long assailed as a political witch hunt. After Maxwell backed Talarico, Paxton lawyer Tony Buzbee argued on X that Maxwell was “thoroughly discredited and made to look like a damn fool” at the trial.

Talarico has emerged as one of Democrats’ best fundraisers of the midterms as he seeks to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in more than three decades. He regularly polls within the margin of error against Paxton, who unseated the Republican incumbent, John Cornyn, in the primary with Trump’s support.

随着共和党加大对德克萨斯州参议员候选人肯·帕克斯顿的竞选投入，支持他的民主党对手詹姆斯·塔拉里科的一个主要团体正在推出一位新的代理人进行反击：一位曾在2023年投票弹劾帕克斯顿的共和党前州议员。

“我永远不会信任肯·帕克斯顿，我永远不会支持肯·帕克斯顿，他最不应该出现的地方就是美国参议院，”前州众议员格伦·罗杰斯在支持塔拉里科的“孤星崛起”政治行动委员会发布的一则新的 30 秒广告中说道。

据一位发言人称，这则广告将在全州范围内的数字和流媒体平台上投放，这是该组织在普选中投入数千万美元的竞选资金的一部分。与此同时，民主党人正面临着共和党外部支出激增的局面，这使得帕克斯顿阵营在选情胶着的最后几周突然获得了巨大的广告优势。

共和党人纷纷远离特朗普的趋势越来越强烈——甚至在一些传统上支持共和党的选区也是如此。

罗杰斯是一位来自沃斯堡郊外的牧场主兼兽医，他直言不讳地批评德克萨斯州共和党的走向。在2024年的党内初选中，他失去了席位。当时，共和党州长格雷格·阿博特正试图清除那些反对他推行教育券政策的现任议员。阿博特支持了罗杰斯的挑战者迈克·奥尔科特，帕克斯顿也支持奥尔科特，后者在弹劾风波后寻求报复。

2023年，由共和党控制的德克萨斯州众议院以压倒性的两党投票结果弹劾了帕克斯顿，指控他滥用职权帮助一位富有的朋友兼捐助者。几个月后，在唐纳德·特朗普总统的压力下，同样由共和党占多数的州参议院宣布帕克斯顿无罪。

为了在激烈的党内初选后团结共和党，帕克斯顿与一些支持弹劾他的众议院共和党人一起开展竞选活动。

塔拉里科的竞选团队一直不遗余力地展示其获得共和党人和帕克斯顿熟识人士的支持。他成立了“共和党人支持塔拉里科”联盟，并公布了帕克斯顿在弹劾审判中的律师丹·科格德尔和曾在弹劾审判中作证的帕克斯顿前高级幕僚大卫·麦克斯韦的背书。

帕克斯顿及其盟友基本上对弹劾案持续引发的政治余波不予理会，他长期以来一直抨击弹劾案是一场政治迫害。在麦克斯韦支持塔拉里科之后，帕克斯顿的律师托尼·布兹比在X电视台辩称，麦克斯韦在审判中“彻底失去了信誉，看起来像个十足的傻瓜”。

塔拉里科已成为民主党在中期选举中最优秀的筹款人之一，他力图成为三十多年来首位赢得德克萨斯州全州公职的民主党人。他的民调支持率经常与帕克斯顿不相上下，后者在初选中凭借特朗普的支持击败了共和党现任议员约翰·科宁。