Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton privately told donors and lobbyists in Washington, D.C., last week that the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention hurt “everybody’s numbers,” including his own.
Paxton had a large presence at the convention as President Donald Trump stumped for the Senate candidate onstage. Paxton, however, has said that it may have done him more harm than good.
In leaked audio reported by the New York Times on Wednesday, someone asked Paxton if he thought Trump was a “little bit of a drag.” Paxton responded candidly.
“So, to be honest with you, the numbers couldn’t get — when we did that convention, it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped,” he said. “Right now? Yeah. It’s not good. I wish there was something we could do to turn that around, but obviously, nothing.”
Most of the latest polls show Paxton narrowly trailing his Democratic opponent, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, as the two vie to replace Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). The incumbent has not backed the Republican nominee following their bitter primary race, prompting Talarico to say he would be open to an endorsement from Cornyn. The general election is less than five weeks away.
The Texas attorney general made the remarks at a Sept. 24 campaign fundraiser hosted by Republican lobbyists Susan Hirschmann and Chris Brinson near Capitol Hill.
In response to the report about the leaked audio, senior Paxton adviser Nick Maddux called the story “more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times” while defending the campaign’s polling numbers.
“Our latest poll from the last week has Ken Paxton leading by three points, and every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September,” Maddux said. “Ken Paxton is going to win this race, and he looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump including when he comes to Texas this week.”
Trump is planning to visit North Texas on Thursday to tour a truck manufacturing facility in Denton and tout his administration’s economic and trade agenda. Denton is about 40 miles north of Dallas, where the midterm convention was held from Sept. 9-10.
Days after the convention, Trump said the event “really helped” Paxton in the Senate race. Based on the leaked audio, the candidate doesn’t agree.
The Texas Democratic Party took advantage of the new report to attack Paxton.
CENTRISTS WARN PUSHING PAXTON OVER CORNYN WAS MISTAKE AS TALARICO SUSTAINS LEAD
“Ken Paxton is loyal to nobody but himself,” party spokesman Ryan Martin said. “With D.C. lobbyists behind closed doors, Paxton trashed Trump, and said he is dragging him down. This is embarrassing for the President. Texans know that Paxton is a cheater, who only serves his own corrupt self interests, and now Trump gets to experience it firsthand.”
It remains to be seen how Trump reacts to Paxton’s private comments. The president endorsed the Texas Republican in May, one week before Paxton defeated Cornyn in the primary runoff.