Dozens of Ken Paxton supporters filled the main dining room of Betty Rose’s Little Brisket restaurant in Abilene, Texas, on a recent weeknight, some with trays of free barbecue or free bottles of beer. Many stops along Mr. Paxton’s state bus tour to campaign for the United States Senate offered some appeal to draw a crowd. The liquor was flowing at an open bar in Fort Worth. In New Braunfels, near San Antonio, attendees enjoyed free brisket and sausages. In Houston, there was enough food and wine for some to grab seconds. Facing the possibility of a rare statewide Republican defeat in Texas, Paxton has done everything he can to fill the halls. It hasn’t always been easy. At a Paxton campaign event in Abilene last week, those who attended were offered free barbecue, sodas and beer. race as demanding as this year’s. Nor has he ever encountered a Democratic opponent like James Talarico, who has packed concert halls with ardent supporters eager to hear him deliver an impassioned speech. The race is testing whether Republican loyalty can overcome the enthusiasm Talarico has generated. Paxton, whom even President Trump has called a bad speaker, doesn’t package them that way. Instead, as Paxton traveled through Texas, he regularly relied on Republican stars and Trump administration officials to draw large crowds on his behalf. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, helped Paxton fill an old train hall in Fort Worth. Vice President JD Vance drew thousands of people to a warehouse in Weatherford, Texas. President Trump has repeatedly praised Paxton at rallies in stadiums across the state, even if it hasn’t given him much time to speak. “Remember, he is perhaps the best attorney general in the United States of America,” Trump said of Paxton in San Antonio last month. Paxton has rearranged or canceled his own campaign stops to accommodate visitors. He left his bus tour to attend back-to-back Trump rallies in Corpus Christi and Lubbock, flying between events with the president aboard Air Force One. Paxton canceled a rally in East Texas on Thursday to be with Vance, and canceled two others in the border cities of Mission and El Paso over the weekend for logistical reasons, his campaign said. Despite the flurry of events, some Republican consultants and Paxton supporters fear he is off to a late start. Paxton canceled a campaign event in East Texas to join Vice President JD Vance at a rally in Weatherford, Texas, on Thursday. Credit…Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesThat anxiety has been building for months. Over the summer, some who came to see Paxton complained about what appeared to be his lack of urgency and the fact that Talarico was already running ads. “I see Talarico all the time,” said John Tortorelli, 52, while waiting in line for free food at a Paxton rally in early September in Corpus Christi. “Paxton needs to help himself. He needs to move.” The sentiment persisted in the final days of the race, even after outside groups, funded largely by Elon Musk, spent more than $250 million to blanket the airwaves with attacks against Talarico and other ads in support of Paxton. restaurant last week. “I think he waited longer than he should to appear on the airwaves.” Krystal Bristow, who was also at the Abilene event, said Republicans had become accustomed to winning statewide and had been slow to recognize the challenge Mr. Paxton faced. Thief.” After Mr. Paxton’s speech, a woman and a man waited in line for guests to take photos with the candidate. When her turn came, the woman spoke briefly to Paxton and was immediately shoved and escorted out of the restaurant. The woman, who declined to give her name, said she had “asked him what he was doing in Dubai,” referring to the video that showed Paxton partying on New Year’s Eve 2024 with two American fugitives and his girlfriend. (Mr. Paxton is in the middle of a divorce.) She believed that a member of Mr. Paxton’s security team had pressured her. A spokesman for Paxton’s campaign did not respond to questions about the incident. Paxton has faced years of legal and ethical problems. He has denied wrongdoing, settling the criminal case. and overcoming impeachment charges. His supporters have dismissed the allegations and described Paxton as someone who, like Trump, has been unfairly targeted by his political opponents. Paxton’s troubles have discouraged some Republicans, particularly traditional conservatives who had favored Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the Republican primary to Paxton. reservations, emphasizing loyalty to the party over the candidate himself. Paxton attended a campaign event hosted by Governor Greg Abbott in Wichita Falls, Texas, last week. Abbott, who faces a tough re-election fight, did not mention Paxton. Credit…Shelby Tauber for The New York Times “I had to hold my nose and vote for John McCain. I had to hold my nose and vote for Mitt Romney,” conservative state Comptroller Don Huffines told the crowd in Weatherford before Paxton and the vice president spoke. “This is about saving the nation.” Throughout his campaign, Paxton has stuck to his teleprompter speech that focuses on cutting costs and portrays Talarico as an extremist. Throughout his campaign, Paxton has shifted his emphasis from the first part to the second. His first tour was under the banner “Protecting the Texas Promise” Now campaigning on the “Come and Get It” bus tour, his lectern bore the message: “When they come after Texas, Ken Paxton is after them.” At a restaurant in New Braunfels, Paxton warned that Talarico would undermine the nation’s conservative Christian roots, attack the oil and gas industry and open the southern border to criminals. Trump has said he may not exactly speak perfectly. general, where he has fought for conservative causes. Plus, they argued, a politician who is too good at public speaking might not be genuine. People wait for food at Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in New Braunfels, where Paxton held a campaign event. The owners later said they had not approved the event. Credit… Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images “Ken Paxton is a genuine candidate,” Anita Valdez, chairwoman of the county Republican Party, said at the New event. Braunfels “Someone can speak well and then the results are not there.” The owners of the New Braunfels restaurant, after receiving criticism online, later posted on social media that they had not approved of Paxton’s event. “This is the action of a dishonest employee,” the post said. (The campaign declined to discuss the episode.) Paxton was introduced on the same day last month by Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California. and spent time living in several states as a child, including California, before moving to Texas. In his remarks, Paxton suggested that Talarico, if elected, would vote as a California senator. Behind him, as he spoke, was the word “California” on a college pennant his campaign later said was an oversight. existential for Texas. But he also added a request at the end of his speech: Pray. Pray for our leaders,” Paxton told the audience in Abilene. “Pray for me.”
