Paxton, the estranged wife of Ken Paxton, a conservative firebrand locked in a fierce battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, is urging voters in a new ad to back the entire Republican ticket when they go to the polls next month. Paxton doesn’t mention her husband — whom she is divorcing, alleging adultery — by name in the ad, she addresses “the elephant in the room” by telling voters they should look past their qualms with any single candidate and think about the future of the Republican Party.
It’s about getting the whole team across the finish line,” she said. Paxton is trailing James Talarico, his Democratic opponent, in every recent poll, including one released by The New York Times and Siena University on Saturday. While Democrats have not won a statewide election in Texas in more than 30 years, Republicans have warned that the Senate race, and others, are more competitive now than in recent memory.
The ad, funded by Texas PAC, a political action committee affiliated with the main super PAC for Senate Republican leaders, could be a further indication of concern about Mr. Paxton’s chances in the race — especially among women. It also indicates that Mrs.
Paxton is now part of a broader strategy to bolster the ticket. She recently gave a speech to a women’s club in Texas where she made similar remarks. Paxton told the club, the Texas Federation of Republican Women on Sept. 18.
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