The estranged wife of President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate for one of Texas’ Senate seats urged Republicans to vote in the state’s primary runoff on Tuesday — but the local politico left her husband out of her endorsements.
Angela Paxton, a Republican state senator from McKinney, said that Texas Republicans should turn out for the runoff election that resulted from the March 2 primary.
“Today is Election Day for the Texas runoff elections, and your voice matters!” she posted. She proceeded to urge her fellow Republicans to choose Mayes Middleton for state attorney general, the seat her soon-to-be-ex currently holds; Jim Wright for railroad commissioner; and Thomas Smith for a spot on Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals.
But she left Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who she has said she is divorcing “on biblical grounds,” off her slate of preferred candidates. She also left out the man he seeks to oust, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
Matt Mackowiak, Cornyn’s communications director, called Angela Paxton “a respected State Senator, a strong conservative, a godly woman and the current estranged wife” of Ken Paxton before saying she “cannot announce her support for him.”
Cornyn and Paxton have engaged in a primary race in March, but neither won a majority, leading to a runoff that will take place on Tuesday evening.
The winner will face off against state Rep. James Talarico, who won the Democratic primary with an outright majority in March.
Trump endorsed Paxton last week, saying that Cornyn was a “good man” but had not stood by Trump when the president faced difficult times and was late to getting behind the Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“The money that would have to be spent here in Texas to salvage a flawed candidate like Ken Paxton has to come from somewhere,” Cornyn said at a campaign stop last week.
“And where it would likely come from is other key Senate races around the country like Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire. It would be hundreds of millions of dollars, and there’s still a good chance that he would lose.”
But Cornyn has warned that Paxton being the candidate could cost Republicans a Senate seat in a state Trump won by 13.7 points in 2024 and where Democrats have not won statewide since 1994.
Last year, Angela Paxton announced that she would divorce Ken Paxton “on biblical grounds” after multiple reports of the attorney general’s alleged extramarital affairs. The two are in the middle of a messy divorce.
In 2023, Texas’ Republican-controlled House of Representatives impeached the attorney general. The House argued that Paxton used his office to legally benefit Nate Paul, real estate developer who contributed to his campaign.
During the trial in the state Senate, Angela Paxton recused herself, which meant she had to hear the impeachment managers recite that Ken Paxton gave preferential treatment to Paul in exchange for home renovations and employing a woman with whom he’d had an extramarital affair.
Trump would later get involved in the impeachment trial and would take credit for Paxton’s eventual acquittal.
“Congratulations to Attorney General Ken Paxton on a great and historic Texas sized VICTORY. I also want to congratulate his wonderful wife and family for having had to go through this ordeal, and WINNING!” he said at the time.
Trump’s decision to endorse Paxton infuriated many Republicans, who feared that it could cost them the seat.
And Democrats said they planned to make a play for Texas.
“Texas has been in play,” Sen. Alex Padilla of California told the Independent last week. “It’s going to be one of the states we’re going to focus on for this November.”
But Republicans, including Ken Paxton, have already sought to define Talarico as too out-of-touch with Texas values, pointing out how he has said people need to consume less meat and his comments saying “God is non-binary.”
