Trump Voters Shred ‘Crook’ Ken Paxton in NY Times Focus Group: ‘Morally Corrupt’

AP Photo/Nick Wagner

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is struggling in his quest to become his state’s next U.S. Senator, and a New York Times focus group of people who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 sheds light on the reasons why.

The scandal-plagued Paxton defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the primary with Trump’s endorsement, but it required a runoff, burned through campaign funds, and put a spotlight on the series of scandals, lawsuits, a bitter divorce from his state senator wife, and other controversies that have dogged the AG for years.

Cornyn’s warnings about Paxton’s weaknesses have thus far proved fairly prescient, with Paxton lagging badly behind his Democratic opponent, Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D), in both polling and fundraising.

A focus group conducted by The New York Times of Texans who voted for Trump in 2024 showed that Paxton’s problems are weighing heavily on the minds of the voters he desperately needs to win over — and they clearly believed Cornyn would have been a stronger candidate.

The group consisted of 12 Texans who voted for Trump in 2024 and were now undecided between Paxton and Talarico, or considering not voting at all in that race.

The Times identified the participants by a first name (plus a last initial for two people both named Robert), age, party registration, race, and employment, as shown in the graphic below.

Screenshot via The New York Times.

Instead, and Trump and other Republican PACs are having to pour over a hundred million dollars into a state that has been reliably red in election dating back to the 1990s.

The participants expressed dissatisfaction with broader political issues and with Trump’s policies, the Times noted:

Many spoke of their love of Texas and its commitment to a strong economy and hospitality, but this group of voters was broadly dissatisfied with the state of the country, the economy and especially politics. Many talked about both major parties being captured by extremes and incapable of working together or speaking well of others. Several participants said they were glad that border security was tighter, but several were unhappy with the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement has operated under Mr. Trump. A few said they couldn’t understand the choices Mr. Trump was making; some feel burned by promises he made in 2024.

Trump’s immigration crackdown got harsh reviews, with only two participants saying Trump had made America’s immigration “situation” better, eight saying worse, and two saying about the same. Several expressed support for better border security but were dismayed at ICE’s tactics and who they were targeting.

Robert S., a 52-year-old Latino Republican, bashed ICE’s methods as “very thuggish in nature” by “deputized muscle instead of military or some properly trained law enforcement.”

“I’ve seen families torn apart. I’ve seen hard-working people jailed because they’re not documented,” he continued. “Meanwhile, the criminals are still running around. Now that’s starting to ripple into businesses starting to shut down because those were their dishwashers and those were their cooks, and those were the reliable people that they really had nothing else. They did the jobs that nobody else wanted to do. And I don’t necessarily condone that, but I mean, whose job did they steal, honestly?”

Multiple participants said they were disappointed in Trump’s second term, pointing out broken campaign promises on everything from the price of eggs to improving the economy to distractions like his quest to put his name on the Kennedy Center.

The president’s support for Paxton was perplexing to some. Hitesh, a 57-year-old Asian Republican, called it “really crazy” for Trump to endorse Paxton and abandon Cornyn “at the last minute.”

Hitesh explained that he had “seen [Cornyn] do a pretty good job” as Texas’ senator, and then for Trump to back “a candidate that has such a shady background,” his reaction was “what the heck?”

When directly asked for their views on Paxton, every single participant had a “heated and highly negative stance” on him, with multiple people using the terms “crook” or “corrupt.”

Screenshot via The New York Times.

Robert D., a 63-year-old White independent, explained why he called Paxton a “crook” as based on “a lot of things that he’s done with his power as attorney general,” including “criminals that he’s let off the hook.”

One of Talarico’s ads focuses on the highly controversial case of Adam Hoffman, a Waco attorney who received a plea deal that did not require him to register as a sex offender and would have had him serve only one day in jail.

Hoffman was accused of sexually abusing a young boy for years; prosecutors with Paxton’s office offered the lenient plea deal after the first trial ended with a hung jury. The judge assigned to the case balked at the deal and ended up imposing a 60-day jail sentence and requiring Hoffman to surrender his Texas law license. Hoffman was released after serving only 30 days.

In contrast, the group had more mixed opinions on Talarico; some offered positive views like “fresh” and “inspiring,” some echoed the social issue critiques pushed by Paxton’s campaign, and one literally said “neutral.”

Screenshot via The New York Times.

Seven of the 12 said if Cornyn had been the GOP nominee, they would have voted for him over Talarico. Sebastian, a 50-year-old White independent, was one of those voters, praising Talarico’s campaign for avoiding negativity and calling the idea of supporting Paxton over Cornyn “crazy”:

Listen, at least in his campaign so far that I’ve seen, it’s like he’s trying to stay away. At least he’s trying to stay away from the negativity and pointing fingers. Whether you believe in them or not, he’s actually trying to come up with solutions. And it’s just getting away from the corruptness of Paxton and the Republican Party, which I’ve been a long supporter of. There’s nothing wrong with Cornyn. Why we would support Paxton over Cornyn is crazy to me. If it was Cornyn versus him, I would be with Cornyn. But because it’s Talarico versus Paxton, I will be voting for Talarico.

The moderator asked the participants how this year’s election differed from past times where Democrats like former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) looked like they might be able to win a statewide race in Texas but fell short, getting multiple answers blaming Paxton winning the primary over Cornyn, who would have won in a “landslide,” as Robert S. put it.

“Cornyn had Talarico beat over Paxton. It’d be, hands down, Cornyn would have won it,” said Jennifer, a 50-year-old White Republican who said she currently planned to not vote in that race, but predicting that “Talarico will probably win it” because the race was “between Talarico and someone people think is a crook with bad morals,” and “[p]eople won’t vote for [Paxton].”

Pam, a 66-year-old White Republican, said she “can’t stand the crook” but found Talarico’s ads unpersuasive, saying she was “in horrible turmoil, because I will not vote for Paxton.”

Vince, a 48-year-old Asian Democrat who described himself as a “moderate” despite voting for Trump, said he was “glad” Talarico was “more of a down-the-middle Democrat” because that meant he could “relate to him more.”

“He’s into border control, which — it’s weird for a Democrat to be so pro that,” Vince added. “It’s usually they rail against that stuff.” He also praised Talarico as “inspiring,” “well-spoken,” and someone he thought “wants the best for middle-class Texans,” and called it a “no-brainer” to see him as “the better candidate versus Paxton.”

Read the full focus group discussion here.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!