And of course the race that everyone across the nation is following: Paxton v. Talarico for Texas’ US Senate seat currently held by Senator John Cornyn. Gabby Birenbaum at the Texas Tribune reported that “pain in the ass” Ken Paxton has raised his personal best from July-September, doubling his previous quarters’ totals, now amounting to $18 million. That’s still well short of Talarico’s totals for the former quarter, dwarfing Ken’s 18 with $30 million last quarter and $27 million before that.
As mentioned yesterday, national Republicans are on rescue mission: Paxton, and that has produced an influx of hundreds of millions of dollars spent on campaigning for the current Texas Attorney General. Paxton’s campaign also bought its first statewide media buy, with a price tag of $20 million, last week compared to Talarico’s $67 million spent on ads so far. So to this point, Paxton is trailing in both money and time spent courting voters, while also falling behind in the polls.
So what was Paxton doing, if not spending buckets on campaigning for this highly-competitive seat? To answer that I recommend you review the Associated Press’ coverage, and the title says it all: “California wineries, European hot spots and ski resorts: Inside Ken Paxton’s jet-setting lifestyle.” That article details Crooked Ken’s travels and time spent out of Texas, with “about 730 workdays blank on his official calendars and [taking] over 275 out-of-state trips to places such as the California wine country, Caribbean resorts and European tourism hot spots.” Wow, sounds nice and like a MAJOR waste of taxpayer money. They total his taxpayer-funded travel costs to “a minimum of $1.9 million to cover expenses charged by his security detail,” and that sure seems like the type of government waste voters don’t want rising even higher to the US Senate. Maybe he’s spent too much time away from home, and that’s why he can’t remember how to spell Cypress, Texas. Sue me, and that’s a dangerous thing to say to litigious Ken, but I don’t think taxpayers should pay for his mid-life crisis.
You can see why GOP leaders might be worried. And so the rescue mission continues while Talarico announces an advertising push to the often ignored pool of Asian American Pacific Islander community in Texas, amounting to 2 million residents in 2023 and coming after the vitriol targeting AAPI Texans from candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner, Bo French.
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