Texas
Why Ken Paxton’s supporters in the Texas attorney general race are unbothered by his mounting scandals
/static.texastribune.org/media/files/22d057d9ed331a2db6a1c9f991236b84/Paxton%20SATX%20KGB%20TT%20redo%2009.jpg "Why Ken Paxton’s supporters in the Texas attorney general race are unbothered by his mounting scandals")
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SPRING BRANCH — On the primary day of early voting for his Republican main runoff, Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton spoke to a crowd of supporters the place he barely acknowledged the competition and completely ignored his well-known challenger, Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
It underscored a confidence as Paxton closes in on the Tuesday runoff the place polls present he’s properly positioned to beat Bush, who has relentlessly attacked Paxton’s integrity because the incumbent fends off numerous private and authorized scandals. However Paxton’s supporters are unswayed by his baggage — if not outright dismissive — as they stick to him based mostly on his report of battling the federal authorities in court docket.
“I actually don’t care so long as he’s preventing the battle,” mentioned Chris Byrd, a member of the State Republican Govt Committee who went to see Paxton communicate to the Bulverde Spring Department Conservative Republicans. “Like him or not, Ken Paxton has exhibited extra braveness in preventing evil than any legal professional basic we’ve had.”
Paxton was indicted for felony securities fraud expenses a number of months after he first grew to become legal professional basic in 2015. In 2020, the FBI started investigating him over claims by former deputies that he abused his workplace to assist a rich donor. He has denied wrongdoing in each circumstances.
Bush has mentioned the authorized points make Paxton unfit for workplace and will danger the necessary seat for Republicans in November. And he has more and more attacked Paxton over an much more private situation: an extramarital affair that he reportedly had that’s related to the FBI probe.
Individually, Paxton is brazenly feuding with the state bar, which is suing him over his lawsuit difficult the 2020 election leads to 4 battleground states.
However after an action-packed main with two different outstanding GOP challengers — U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler and Eva Guzman, a former Texas Supreme Court docket justice — the race is ending on a comparatively low-key be aware. Private and non-private polls level to a Paxton victory, although a Dallas Morning Information-College of Texas at Tyler ballot launched Sunday proved to be an outlier in giving Paxton solely a single-digit lead. Extra Republican officers, like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have coalesced behind Paxton, whereas Gohmert and Guzman have declined to endorse Bush regardless of their well-documented objections to Paxton. And Paxton has refused to debate Bush, assured he’s already on a profitable trajectory.
Bush outraised Paxton on their solely marketing campaign finance report for the runoff — $2.3 million to $2 million — although Paxton had six instances more money readily available than Bush did.
Paxton has urged runoff voters to “finish the Bush dynasty.” Bush has countered that with an advert the place he says he’s “happy with my household’s contributions to Texas and America, however this race isn’t about my final title — it’s about Ken Paxton’s crimes.”
On the assembly of the Bulverde Spring Department Conservative Republicans, which has endorsed Paxton, supporters mentioned they backed Paxton for the reason that starting of the first, hardly thought-about the options and care extra about his job efficiency than his private authorized points.
“I like that he’s a fighter,” mentioned Colette Laine, a Spring Department espresso store proprietor. “I like that he has a variety of lawsuits out. He’s actually using his workplace.”
She added that any private moral baggage “doesn’t weigh a lot” on her resolution to assist Paxton as a result of she is extra targeted on how he’s doing his job.
The info helps such sentiment. The UT-Tyler ballot requested Paxton supporters what they like about him greater than Bush, and the No. 1 purpose was “job efficiency.” Thirty-four % picked that purpose, whereas solely 8% mentioned “integrity.” Integrity, in the meantime, was the highest purpose cited by Bush voters.
Paxton targeted virtually solely on his work in workplace as he addressed the group Monday. He recounted at size how his workplace defended the state’s near-total abortion ban on the U.S. Supreme Court docket final 12 months. He went over the 12 lawsuits that his workplace filed forward of the 2020 election searching for to cease native governments from altering election procedures within the title of the coronavirus pandemic. And he touted his authorized battles towards the Biden administration, particularly on border points just like the “stay in Mexico” coverage that requires some asylum-seekers to attend in Mexico whereas their immigration proceedings unfold.
Slightly than acknowledge his runoff opponent, Paxton appeared extra animated by his rising refrain of detractors amongst fellow authorized professionals. Along with the state bar, Paxton has gone to struggle towards the all-Republican Court docket of Felony Appeals for a ruling final 12 months that stripped the legal professional basic of his energy to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud.
Paxton’s broadsides towards the court docket have raised issues with authorized specialists, however he was unapologetic Monday night, suggesting the court docket purposely waited till two days after the first submitting deadline to situation its opinion as a technique to keep away from political blowback.
“We acquired to ensure the subsequent spherical that we take note of these folks and eliminate everyone however Kevin Yeary,” Paxton mentioned, referring to the one dissenting decide within the 8-1 ruling. “And I’m gonna hold speaking about this despite the fact that the bar says I’m not allowed to.”
The group of over 100 folks gave Paxton a standing ovation as he left the room after talking.
Linden Sisk, the group’s treasurer, mentioned afterward he likes Paxton as a result of he’s “standing up for the Structure and preventing towards federal authorities overreach.” Sandy Mitchel, a Bulverde retiree, mentioned she likes that Paxton is a conservative, a Christian and “out for the folks.” And Mark, who declined to offer his final title, mentioned he was supporting Paxton as a result of he has “been preventing the battle — and profitable.”
That could be a key phrase in Paxton’s marketing campaign, which fingers out literature boasting of his Trump endorsement — full with a screenshot of the July 2021 assertion — that Paxton is “defending Texas and profitable,” with an emphasis on the final two phrases. The literature says Paxton has “sued the Biden administration over 25 instances on points like unlawful immigration and masks/vaccine mandates and has gained over 90% of the time.” A Houston Chronicle evaluation revealed final month discovered that Paxton’s win price is “nearer to 71% together with circumstances the place judges briefly blocked President Joe Biden’s insurance policies however a closing decision continues to be pending.”
Virtually not one of the Paxton supporters The Texas Tribune spoke with mentioned they even thought-about supporting Bush, utilizing phrases like “institution,” “globalist” and “rich elite” to explain him and his well-known political household.
When it got here to the claims of abuse in workplace towards Paxton, they confirmed some familiarity however little concern.
“These are unproven allegations” coming from “disgruntled staff,” Sisk mentioned. “Anyone could make an allegation,” he added, and “everyone’s entitled” to due course of, together with Paxton.
“I’ve seemed into it,” Mitchel mentioned. “I believe a variety of it’s made-up issues, and I imagine him when he tells us what he’s doing [in office]. He does his job.”
Paxton sought to clear himself final 12 months with an unsigned 374-page report produced by his workplace, however that was met with broad skepticism given the supply. The previous deputies, who at the moment are suing him in a whistleblower lawsuit, spoke out forward of the first, accusing him of constructing “quite a few false and deceptive public statements” on the marketing campaign path.
Because the runoffs nears, Bush has extra particularly attacked Paxton over the reported affair, regardless of saying at the beginning of the primary that he wouldn’t make a difficulty out of it. But when Paxton’s supporters are troubled by it, they don’t seem to be saying so. In April, the Tribune reached out to a dozen and a half Paxton endorsers to see in the event that they had been involved concerning the alleged affair. Most didn’t reply in any respect, a number of declined to remark and one, the Collin County Conservative Republicans, offered an announcement that blasted the Tribune for asking, calling the group a “slimy publication and a mouthpiece for the leftist agenda.”
Republican voters already gave Paxton a go on his authorized woes when he gained reelection in 2018 with out drawing a single main opponent. Again then, his fundamental vulnerability was the securities fraud case.
However the whistleblower claims that adopted gave new hope to Paxton’s critics, partly as a result of they had been coming from revered conservative attorneys who couldn’t be simply dismissed as politically motivated. Paxton’s opponents within the March main campaigned most closely on that controversy — and whereas Paxton at all times remained within the lead, they expressed confidence that his fortunes would change as soon as voters discovered extra about his issues within the runoff.
“Just one of three Republicans know that Ken Paxton is dealing with three felony counts in Houston court docket, is dealing with an FBI investigation wanting into bribery, corruption — so a part of that’s on me,” Bush mentioned on the evening of the first. “I’m gonna have to teach the general public on this situation.”
Polls present there was little motion to that finish.
In UT-Tyler polling, the share of Republican voters who imagine that Paxton has the integrity to function legal professional basic is just about unchanged from the first. Its February survey discovered 50% of GOP voters believed that; its Could ballot put the quantity at 49%. The share of Republican voters who had been uncertain additionally barely moved, remaining at a few third.
In any case, Republican voters are largely conscious of Paxton’s authorized troubles, in response to one other pollster, the Texas Politics Challenge on the College of Texas at Austin. Its April survey discovered that 81% of Republican voters mentioned that they had heard concerning the “authorized issues of Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton” to a point. The final time the pollster requested the query was in October 2016, and the determine was 71%.
Paxton’s marketing campaign declined to remark for this story. However with days till the runoff, the marketing campaign has continued to indicate Republicans are uniting behind the incumbent regardless of his vulnerabilities. On Wednesday morning, a majority of the State Republican Govt Committee endorsed Paxton.
James Barragán contributed to this report.
Disclosure: The College of Texas at Austin has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.
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My Aggie loyalty started in high school, when my future alma mater mailed a poster of Bonfire to a ZIP code at the very top of Texas. That was about all the recruiting I received from Aggieland, but it was enough. That poster hung on my wall (between Michael Jordan and a Porsche) and I memorized the only words on it:
Some may boast of prowess bold,
of the school they think so grand.
But there’s a spirit can ne’er be told.
It’s the Spirit of Aggieland.
My enrollment at what was then the third-largest university in the nation was a sea change for me, and a culture shock. It’s when I stitched the High Plains together with the rest of Texas and started to get perspective about the history, personalities and traditions that shape our state. One of those traditions will be renewed Saturday when maroon and burnt orange take the field together, for the first time in 13 years, below the roar of the 12th Man.
This rivalry started in 1894, and was renewed 97 consecutive times from 1915 to 2011. Altogether, the game has been played 118 times. It used to unite the state, and it used to divide families. In recent years, jokes about tension over Thanksgiving dinner because of the A&M-UT game have been replaced by dread of Thanksgiving dinner over political talk. With the election behind us, it’ll be good for Texans to get back to the old ways.
This rivalry has created our state’s own version of mixed marriages. Kevin Scheible, one of my closest friends from college, married a member of the Longhorn Band. Kevin and Sharon live in San Antonio now. They’ve somehow made it work, though it’s an arrangement I would counsel most young lovers to avoid.
A dozen years ago, right around the time the rivalry was being suspended, my Aggie wife and I found ourselves in a Bible study group that was evenly split between Aggies and Longhorns. It included two mixed marriages. Those people are still some of our closest friends. Only the supernatural bonds of the Holy Spirit could have kept us from cracking in half. That, plus we don’t watch the game together.
College football has changed enormously since this game was played last, let alone since it was played first. The crowds are larger. The record size of the 12th Man is 110,663; this game will almost certainly surpass that.
The payouts are bigger too. The era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) sponsorships has created a breed that would have been unthinkable in 1894: millionaire college athletes.
Two of the 10 highest paid college athletes in the nation are Longhorn quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, according to Yahoo! Sports.
In the new Aggie tradition of paying football personalities not to contribute, benched quarterback Conner Weigman will earn his $628,000 NIL valuation from the sideline.
But at least the venue will be simple. The Aggies play at Kyle Field, the state’s largest stadium, named after Texas A&M horticulture professor E.J. Kyle, who created the school’s football field in 1904.
In contrast, the name of the Longhorns’ haunt is something like Campbell-Williams Field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium presented by Bud Light in association with Hemp-It-Up-America Political Action Committee.
Both schools have storied programs. The Longhorns have Darrell Royal, Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams and four national championships if you include the one in 1970 when they lost to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl but United Press International writers awarded them the title anyway because the media loves them. Some things never change.
The Aggies have Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Jackie Sherrill (for the purposes of this column, please forget the state of Alabama exists), as well as Heisman Trophy winners John David Crow and Johnny Football Manziel. When I was a student, Aggies claimed just one national championship, back in 1939. But then other schools started putting such achievements in big letters on their stadiums and we demanded a recount. Now, Aggies include the undefeated seasons in 1919 and 1927 under Coach D.X. Bible who later coached at, you guessed it, UT.
The rivalry has included its share of pranks. The official story (and by “official” I mean made up by Aggies) of how UT mascot Bevo got its name is that a group of Aggie students snuck over to Austin one night, long ago, after the horns had lost to A&M 13-0, and branded the cow with the score. In a mascot cover-up, UT students converted the 13 to a B, the – to an E and added a V before the 0 to create the name.
It is true that A&M beat UT 13-0 in 1915, and it’s true that some Aggies branded the mascot. But the brand-conversion part remains unconfirmed and Longhorns refuse to admit the obvious: that this is a terrific story that should live long in Texas lore.
For all the differences between these schools, there is still more that unites us than divides us, as it’s popular to say these days. Both institutions are doing important work in research and molding the next generation of Texas leaders. Aggies and Longhorns love their state. We love our schools. And we would love to see our rivals lose. Both school’s songs mention the other.
That poster on my bedroom wall would be as close as I would come to the real Bonfire until I stood on Duncan Drill Field watching it burn in the fall of 1991. My unit in the Corps of Cadets was known for building Bonfire. We had spent thousands of man hours in exhausting manual labor kindling Bonfire’s purpose: the burning desire to beat the hell outta UT.
I remember watching the news just a few years later, heartbroken by the loss of 12 Aggies who were making their own Bonfire memories when tragedy struck. Aggies everywhere remembered them this week.
Longhorns did too. I’ll never forget how Austin dropped the rivalry taunts and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with grieving Aggies in the wake of that tragedy. UT showed its class that year. The school canceled its Hex Rally, the ritual that traditionally preceded the game. The UT Tower went dark and the Aggie War Hymn was played there — the one that derides the “orange and the white.” It’s the only time in UT history that has happened, I’m told. At the game, the Longhorn Band played Taps, a fitting salute at a school with military roots.
Longhorn coach Mack Brown offered to postpone the game and he said he has shed tears over the loss of those 12 Aggies. His staff organized a blood drive. Brown was a great coach whose players would have run through a wall for him. In November 1999, I think a lot of Aggies would have too.
Two weeks ago, Mrs. Aggie and I attended a gathering sponsored by the Coppell Aggie Moms Club where we got to meet the Texana artist Benjamin Knox. Knox was in the Aggie Cadet Corps just a few years before I was. He went on to paint the school spirit at several Texas institutions, including commissions by the State of Texas, and the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
Knox showed us a new painting he created to mark the revival of this Texas Thanksgiving tradition. And because I accosted him after the meeting, he agreed to let The Dallas Morning News reproduce it here.
From a folded poster hung with thumbtacks to a work of art by one of Texas’ great painters, this rivalry has produced a lot of memorable images. If the Aggies don’t run out of time, I look forward to treasuring the image of the Kyle Field scoreboard Saturday, and sharing it with a few of my Longhorn friends.
Editor’s note: Over Sanders’ loud objections, this column was edited for a variety of blatant biases and subtle but consistent grammatical slights (such as the use of “tu”) that did not meet our editorial standards.
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A common theme for No. 22 TCU has been their complete dominance on their home floor this season. The Horned Frogs finished the year 14-1 at Schollmaier Arena. On Friday night, in front of over 3,000 fans, TCU swept Texas Tech (25-14, 26-24, 25-11).
The four seniors honored by TCU were Melanie Parra, Cecily Bramschreiber, Stephanie Young and Ashlyn Bourland. All four players found ways to contribute as Parra finished with 14 kills and seven digs. Bramschreiber filled up the stat sheet with four kills, four aces and seven digs. Both Young and Bourland got an ace.
Both teams traded points in the early going, but Bramschreiber sparked a 7-2 run to give the Frogs a 16-9 lead. TCU hit .417 in the first set and dominated the first set capped off by a Becca Kelley ace.
In set two, Texas Tech made things much closer jumping out to a 8-5 lead. A 4-0 run from TCU put them back in front. This set included multiple runs and it was Tech that got it to set point leading 24-22. TCU was able to end the set on a 4-0 run courtesy of kills from Jalyn Gibson and Parra paired with aces from Bramschreiber.
Trying to keeps things alive, TCU wasn’t met with much resistance from the Red Raiders in the third set. The Frogs kept up the pressure with multiple runs to build a massive 17-8 lead. Bourland picked up her first career ace and an attack error ended things.
It was a fun night for the seniors that played in front of the TCU crowd for the last time. The 14 wins at home tied the school record for most wins at home in a single season. They also picked up the most wins in a season since 2015. What Jason Williams has done for this program in such a short time has been remarkable to watch.
The Frogs move to 19-7 overall 11-5 in conference. They still are fifth in the Big 12 standings with two games to go. They will travel to Morgantown on Wednesday to take on West Virginia at 6 p.m. and then to Cincinnati on Friday at 1 p.m.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit Thursday targeting the blue city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalizes marijuana.
Paxton alleges that Proposition R, which “prohibits the Dallas Police Department from making arrests or issuing citations for marijuana possession or considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure,” violates state law.
The attorney general argues in the lawsuit that the ballot measure is preempted by Texas law, which criminalizes the possession and distribution of marijuana. Paxton also claims the Texas Constitution prohibits municipalities from adopting an ordinance that conflicts with laws enacted by the state legislature.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow,” Paxton said in a statement. “The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them.”
Paxton called the ballot measure “a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution” and threatened to sue any other city that “tries to constrain police in this fashion.”
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A flower bud of marijuana. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
The lawsuit comes after interim Dallas Police Department Chief Michael Igo directed Dallas police officers not to enforce marijuana laws against those found to be in possession of less than 4 ounces.
Ground Game Texas, a progressive nonprofit group that campaigned in favor of the ballot measure, argued it would help “keep people out of jail for marijuana possession,” “reduce racially biased policing” and “save millions in public funding.”
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A mature marijuana plant begins to bloom under artificial lights at Loving Kindness Farms in Gardena, Calif., May 20, 2019. Paxton has sued the city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that Attorney General Ken Paxton has apparently chosen to waste everyone’s time and money by filing yet another baseless lawsuit against marijuana decriminalization,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director for Ground Game Texas.
“Judges in Travis and Hays counties have already dismissed identical lawsuits filed there. The Dallas Freedom Act was overwhelmingly approved by 67% of voters — this is democracy in action.”
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Since January 2024, Paxton has filed lawsuits against five Texas cities that decriminalized marijuana possession, arguing these policies promote crime, drug abuse and violence.
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