Latest / Best of: Features / Republicans' grip on Texas is on the line in a close US Senate race between Paxton, Talarico

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Republicans' grip on Texas is on the line in a close US Senate race between Paxton, Talarico · Best of: Features

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  Republicans grip on Texas is on the line in a close U.S.
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  Senate races between Paxton and Talta Rico. Written by Jesse Bedain and
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  Thomas Beaumont. This article is being read by an automated voice generated
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  by Everlet. Austin, Texas, the AP. A showdown in Texas between
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  Ken Paxton and James Tallarico, one of the marquee U.S. Senate races
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  of the midterms, had Democrats pushing to break a thirty year losing
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  streak in the state on Tuesday, and Republicans scrambling to defend both
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  a pivotal stronghold and an increasingly fragile Senate majority. The campaign has
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  tested voters tolerance for past scandals that have shadowed Paxton, Texas's Republican
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  Attorney General, and whether Talicarica's religion infused populist message can blaze a
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  path to victory for Democrats in
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  a state that President Donald Trump easily carried two years ago. Texas
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  has not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since nineteen ninety
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  four, but a unique cascade of events set the stage for one
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  of the nation's most heated and expensive campaigns, and Republicans fear they
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  could lose. Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in a combative primary
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  with the help of
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  a late endorsement from Trump, even though Senate Republican leaders feared that
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  Paxton would be far more vulnerable because of his years of legal
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  troubles, including accusations of corruption. At the same time voters have become
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  increasingly frustrated over high costs for gas, groceries, health care and more,
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  and the war with Iran sapping Trump's and Republicans popularity. Tallarico centered
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  his campaign on portraying Paxton's as the face of a corrupt political
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  system that allows billionaires to wield outsized political power while prices rise
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  for the rest of the country. He also tried to woo moderate
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  Republicans and independents put off by Paxton. Paxton pinned his hopes on
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  firing up Republican voters who have historically outnumbered Democrats in Texas to
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  turn out at the polls. He campaigned with Trump several times, and
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  then president amplified Paxton's attack that Tal Arico is too progressive for
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  the Lone Star State because of past statements, including that God is
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  non binary. Paxton has been dogged by past scandals. The political climate
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  was already favorable for Democrats from coast to coast this year, with
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  many people upset with Trump on issues such as the war in
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  Iran and the soaring costs of living. Paxton was further weighed down
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  by a string of legal and ethical problems, including being impeached in
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  twenty twenty three and then acquitted by his own party on corruption
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  accusations, along with a federal corruption investigation that was closed with no
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  charges. During the impeachment trial there were allegations of marital infidelity, and
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  his wife is now divorcing him on biblical grounds. Tallerico hammered Paxton’s
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  on those ethical questions in an attempt to win over Republican and
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  independent voters, but Tallerico rarely maligned the Republican Party. The issue is
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  less a question of right versus left, he often said, and more
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  about the Uber rich versus everyone else. Tallerico's argument was supercharged after
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  Elon Musk, the world's richest man in Texas resident, became a major
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  donor in the race. Musk contributed a total of one hundred fifty
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  eight million dollars to the Senate Leadership Fund, the same amount that
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  the fund then gave to Texas Pack, the largest contributor to Paxton's
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  campaign. Musk also gave ten million dollars to the Paxton supporting Lone
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  Star Liberty Pack. While the investment helped blanket the state in anti
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  Tala Rico ads, the Democrats started naming Musk's donation in his stump
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  speech as the epitome of the moneyed influence that he says has
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  corrupted politics. Talarico's past comments become a target. While Paxton
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  discussed rising costs, he focused more on framing Talarico as too far
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  left for Texas. Paxton, considered a culture war pugilist in some conservative
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  circles, pointed to the Democrat naming his favorite drag queen in Texas,
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  and previously stating there were six sexes. Talt Arico has worked to
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  moderate his past statements on gender questions, calling them cringy. He said
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  he opposes transgender athletes playing women's sports if it endangers safety or
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  fairness. He often took a pastoral approach with voters, presenting himself as
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  an earnest listener to their concerns, and pledging to salve them if
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  elected. Culture war issues have helped propel Paxton to prominence as a
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  state attorney general eager to use his position for partisan aims, including
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  leading a failed lawsuit that sought to overturn the twenty twenty election
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  after Trump claimed without evidence that it was stolen.