Awwww. Sometimes people have ways of telling someone that their serial adulterer and overall slimy ways don’t cut it when trying something above their station. And he is most certainly trying to do things above his station. This is going to make him think hard about what he’s trying to do … or maybe not. This is Ken Paxton, after all. We’d really like to get rid of this guy. What he had to make Texas voters support him, we don’t know. But that light is fading, and we couldn’t be happier … at least for this debacle. My compliments to Raw Story:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to unseat Republican Sen. John Cornyn is sputtering financially, with major donors who previously bankrolled his campaigns now sitting on the sidelines — a striking display of the deep fracture within the Republican Party between its business-oriented establishment and its hard-right MAGA base, writes the New York Times’ Lauren McGaughy.
According to her analysis, Paxton has fallen dramatically short of his fundraising goals. He claimed last year he would need about $20 million to mount a credible challenge to Cornyn, but he’s raising far less than anticipated as he “struggles” to rake in donations.
Oops. He shouldn’t have made such a broad announcement and prediction. No one ever knows whether or not people will support them. Boasting about something before they have the money to boast about is not a good idea. People may very well look at this and think, “No, not from me, he won’t.” Paxton does not belong in Congress. His ego, while matching some of the people in Congress, is full of hot air. Just like now, he’s writing checks he can’t pass. He should be happy to be the big frog in a little pond.
Many of the wealthy donors who built Paxton’s political career in Texas have decided to watch from the sidelines. Several businessmen who spent millions supporting his state attorney general campaigns have not contributed to either his Senate campaign or the political action committee backing his run.
Most strikingly, the Times is reporting, the billionaire West Texas oilmen and far-right kingmakers who have long backed Paxton have spent little on his Senate run.
Over the last five years, Tim Dunn and brothers Farris and Dan Wilks gave Paxton more than $1 million directly or through their political action committees.
But only Dan Wilks has contributed to the Senate campaign, throwing the candidate just $7,000. Dunn has spent millions in other federal races instead.
Perhaps the donors see him as a losing proposition. We can hope it’s so. The primary is important, yes, but midterms are more important. Paxton thinks he is much more than he really is. He’s fallen into the classic bad decision. Just because he has the appropriate ego doesn’t matter. It seems they may think he doesn’t have the chops for the Senate. We could not be more pleased.
One prominent Texas donor, Alex Fairly, explained the calculus bluntly to McGaughy, stating, “It’s more a matter of saving my bullets for the general,” the Amarillo businessman said. “Winning in November is more important.”
Fairly gave only $7,000 to Paxton’s Senate campaign — far less than the $300,000 he has contributed to Paxton’s state campaigns since 2021.
The fundraising disparity is stark as Cornyn has significantly outspent Paxton and still had $11 million in his campaign and committee accounts as of the latest filing — three times as much as Paxton had on hand. In total, Paxton has raised only around $13.5 million between his campaign and supporting committee.
The money gap reflects a fundamental split in the Republican Party. Business-oriented conservatives prefer the establishment-aligned Cornyn, while Paxton represents the pugnacious politics of the MAGA movement — a divide that’s playing out in real time through donor behavior.
Paxton should give it up. His chances of unseating Cornyn grow smaller by the day. His style is not something the majority of donors feel comfortable with. Yes, he has the hard right, but only the hard right. That won’t be enough when primaries roll around. All you have to do is look at the fundraising. And he’s disgusting. The things he has done are repulsive. Serial adulterer. That’s a big one where donors are concerned. It isn’t the image they want to represent Texas. Paxton needs to stay in his own lane. He doesn’t belong in Congress. I sincerely hope he gets clobbered at the primary, if he doesn’t see the light before then. That light is a train coming, and it’s going to wipe him out. He’s revolting.
See you soon!
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I hope Paxton wins the primary.
I think Talarico has a much better chance of beating him in the general than of beating Cornyn.
Oh, now, *THAT* is a thought. You have a very good point. I just really, really, really detest Paxton.
Paxton, from the party of ‘family values’.
Ahahahaha and *snort* Paxton has none of those.