EDITORIAL: Ken Paxton for Senate
Ken Paxton is exactly the kind of senator Texas has been waiting for, and on May 26, Republican voters knew it. They handed him a decisive victory and a clear mandate. Beating James Talarico is important. But it’s also true that Paxton’s record is genuinely impressive. He is the conservative movement’s best litigator, its most relentless fighter, and we should all rally behind him.
But first, a word about Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) who served Texas for more than two decades. His record on judicial confirmations is genuinely outstanding. Few senators worked harder to put constitutionalist judges on the federal bench, and conservatives owe him real gratitude for that legacy.
The good news is that Paxton is positioned to carry it forward — and then some. As a litigator who spent years arguing before those very courts, he understands better than almost anyone in American politics why the judiciary matters and what kind of judges belong on it.
But the heart of the case for Paxton is his record as attorney general. For a decade, he was the tip of the spear in the conservative legal movement. When the Biden administration tried to impose its agenda by executive order, Paxton beat it in court. He led the fight to secure the southern border when Biden tried to open it. He challenged unlawful federal COVID mandates, defended election integrity, and protected Texas families from federal overreach on trans issues.
He built a model for other Republican attorneys general across the country. No state attorney general in America did more to check the Biden Administration than Paxton.
That is the kind of proven fighter we should want in the Senate.
The contrast with James Talarico could not be sharper. Talarico is arguably the most radical left-wing candidate running for office today. But the case for Paxton does not rest on Talarico’s weaknesses. It rests on Paxton’s strengths. Even set the Democrat aside entirely, Paxton is a candidate whose accomplishments demonstrate he would be an effective conservative leader on day 1 in the Senate.
Texas has a chance to send a battle-tested conservative to Washington, a man who has already spent a career fighting the fights that matter. Republicans should seize it.
