Angela Paxton Takes One for the Team

Give Angela Paxton a lot of credit. And the "elephant in the room" had better be prepared to redeem it.

With Ken Paxton apparently struggling in what should be a walkover Senate race in Texas, Republicans have had to spend a lot of money to overcome the AG's 'baggage.' Much of that baggage comes from Paxton's personal life, in which Paxton had an affair and divorced his wife, Angela, also a state senator. 

After weeks of hammering James Talarico for being a weird progressive, both the Paxton campaign and his allies have realized they will need to address the family situation. Paxton's campaign pushed out an effective and personal ad by his daughter Mattie and her husband that highlighted Paxton's role as father and grandfather, subtly suggesting that the family dynamics had returned to some level of normalcy.

Senate Republicans apparently decided that message wasn't direct enough. Through their Texas PAC – funded with $32 million from the Senate Leadership Fund run by John Thune – they drafted Angela Paxton directly, who talked about the "elephant in the room" while urging Texans to vote straight Elephant, er, Republican. The ad began running this weekend, and while Angela never mentions Ken or the specifics of the scandal, she also insists that it doesn't matter in terms of the election:

#TXPol: "I'm Texas Senator Angela Paxton. People have asked my thoughts about this election and turns out, I have some ... I'm voting for the Republican ticket on November 3rd."

Texas PAC is up with a new ad featuring Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton's estranged wife. pic.twitter.com/U7yYZ6ZBXp

— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) October 3, 2026

Just to be crystal clear, this is the "elephant":

State Sen. Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July [2025 - Ed] alleging adultery. Soon after, she asked for the court record to be sealed. A previous judge handling the case agreed and put all of the records under seal. Ken Paxton initially supported the decision, filing a court document that accused the press of attempting to unfairly invade his personal life.

One interesting point about this ad is that Republicans are the first to refer to it in the general election. Talarico and his allies have largely shied away from it. Why? For one thing, John Cornyn spent millions in the primary and runoff attacking Paxton over his alleged infidelity, and Cornyn ended up losing massively as a result. Talarico may not want the backfire, and he and his allies may be thinking twice about opening up the entire subject of dating preferences, too. Either way, Cornyn's attacks on Paxton's personal life clearly didn't land with Republicans, and those are the voters who would likely be most offended by marital allegations of a "biblical" nature.

So why are Republicans bringing it up at all? They must be concerned about enthusiasm for Paxton among non-MAGA Republican voters, the same people who voted for Cornyn in the runoff. Cornyn's not out campaigning for Paxton; like Jasmine Crockett on the other side, he's too busy holding a grudge to work for the team. 

In that sense, having Angela Paxton argue for a straight-ticket vote is a stroke of brilliance. It essentially shuts down the last of Cornyn's moral objections and refocuses the election on the meta-structure of Washington, D.C. and what a loss in Texas would mean for it. Angela never endorses Ken – she never even mentions his name – but the message is clear: This is her personal issue, not a political issue requiring the removal of the nose from Texas' face. The endorsement should give those reluctant voters reason to cast their vote for Ken not because they like him, but because Angela is right that in reminding them that allowing Democrats to take that seat will have serious consequences over the next six years. 

Kudos to Angela Paxton for putting the public good over her understandable grievances. She may get a lot of criticism for it, but she walks the fine line here in focusing on the big picture while maintaining her dignity and taking control of her own political arc. The elephants in the room had better remember this favor when the time comes. 

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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