Republican former state lawmaker vows he’ll ‘never’ support Paxton in new ad as Texas Senate race heats up
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention in Dallas on September 9.
(CNN) — As Republicans ramp up spending for Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, a top group supporting his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, is pushing back with a new surrogate: a Republican former state lawmaker who voted to impeach Paxton in 2023.
“I’ll never trust Ken Paxton, I’ll never support Ken Paxton and the last place he should be is the United States Senate,” former state Rep. Glenn Rogers says in a new 30-second ad for the pro-Talarico Lone Star Rising PAC.
The ad will run statewide on digital and streaming platforms as part of the group’s eight-figure effort in the general election, according to a spokesperson. It comes as Democrats confront a spike in outside GOP spending in recent days, suddenly giving Paxton’s side a huge advertising advantage in the closing weeks of the tight race.
Rogers, a rancher and veterinarian from outside Fort Worth, is an outspoken critic of the direction of the Republican Party in Texas. He lost his seat in the 2024 primary as part of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to target incumbents who opposed his push for school vouchers. Abbott endorsed Rogers’ challenger, Mike Olcott — as did Paxton, who was seeking his own revenge after the impeachment saga.
The Republican-led Texas House impeached Paxton in 2023 in a large bipartisan vote, accusing him of abusing his office to help a wealthy friend and donor. The state Senate, also with a GOP majority, acquitted Paxton months later, under pressure from President Donald Trump.
Paxton, in an effort to unify the GOP after the nasty primary, has campaigned with some of the House Republicans who supported his impeachment.
Talarico’s campaign has been making a sustained effort to show off support from Republicans and those who have known Paxton well. He has rolled out a “Republicans for Talarico” coalition and unveiled endorsements from Dan Cogdell, a Paxton lawyer in the impeachment trial, and David Maxwell, a former top Paxton staffer who testified in his impeachment trial.
Paxton and his allies have largely dismissed the ongoing political fallout from the impeachment case, which he has long assailed as a political witch hunt. After Maxwell backed Talarico, Paxton lawyer Tony Buzbee argued on X that Maxwell was “thoroughly discredited and made to look like a damn fool” at the trial.
Talarico has emerged as one of Democrats’ best fundraisers of the midterms as he seeks to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in more than three decades. He regularly polls within the margin of error against Paxton, who unseated the Republican incumbent, John Cornyn, in the primary with Trump’s support.
The-CNN-Wire
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