Ken Paxton dodged the televised town hall in the Lone Star State, but he had an interrogator on assignment. Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/CNN Welcome to Midterms Meltdown, a special pop-up newsletter from The Swamp that lets you know up-to-the-minute secrets politicians don’t want you to know about the race until November 3. It’s the biggest election campaign since 2024, and the noose will ooze across the country to shape DC for the next two years and beyond. Our David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, Sarah Ewall-Wice and Laura Esposito get down and dirty with inside stories from the battlefields every Monday and Friday. Today they melt down in The Swamp: Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton, Mitch McConnell, and possibly the GOP’s second-worst candidate after Ken Paxton Transparency with Lone Star Talarico Open to CNN Debate Ken Paxton isn’t your straight-up Texas cowboy. You run a mile when someone asks you a question and you haven’t attended a town hall meeting or debate. You have to give James Talarico credit for being the lone star at a CNN-Jubilee town hall for a question-and-answer session with voters on both sides Wednesday night. But The Swamp must ask whether Paxton and company were playing a double game by introducing a Trojan horse into the debate to interrogate the Democratic Party’s golden boy, who is leading in the polls in the deep red state. Get the best of The Beast delivered straight to your inbox After all, wasn’t “small business owner” Sarah Gardner, who joined Talarico at the debate table to grill him about religion, the same Sarah Gardner, who is secretary of the Dallas County Young Republicans? “Small business owner” Sarah Gardner grilled James Talarico in a debate broadcast on CNN. She is also the Secretary of the Dallas County Young Republicans. We’re sure she votes Republican and says on social media that she is, indeed, a small business owner. To be fair, their exchange was civil, and the Young Republican did not stoop to Paxton’s level by hurling claims that Talarico “hates Christianity.” But if CNN and Jubilee knew that Sarah was also an official in the Texas Republican Party, shouldn’t they have told viewers… and Talarico? If they didn’t know, they should test their voters better next time. The Swamp has contacted Talarico and CNN for comment. It’s one thing to read the political climate in a deeply red state from big cities. Dallas, Houston, and even liberal Austin will tell you their own stories. These are cities that attract educated, wealthy and young people. But Texas is huge, 28 times the size of Vermont. And Texas’ smaller towns and communities have been forgotten in the Democratic Party’s excitement over the possibilities of a breakthrough on Nov. 3. Because Talarico’s fate will be decided there. The Swamp spent a week in Marshall, east Texas, far from the beating hearts of the state’s Republican establishment. This is a place where Californians are not welcome, much less Democrats. They defend change in a city in decline governed by the Bible and guns. Senate candidate James Talarico was the lone star in Wednesday night’s CNN debate. Being called a liberal is bad enough. Socialism is similar to heresy. God knows what they would do with a communist. The great enemy is change. Although the infrastructure is crumbling and the city’s best days date back to the heyday of the railway. But the tradition of hospitality remains and the locals are welcoming. Just not for liberals. The only debate Paxton is having is with the president over his taste in clothes. What Ken Paxton or Donald Trump say doesn’t matter. These people will only vote one way. There are few Paxton signs in front yards. It’s really not necessary. It doesn’t even matter that he’s a terrible candidate. We talked for so long with a woman that she invited us to dinner. We had to explain who Paxton was, even after she told us she was voting Republican. It didn’t matter, he said; she was determined to protect her way of life against the liberals. And he added: “Texas protects with our weapons.” A younger woman said how much she liked California. “I just have a problem with people,” he added. For California, read Democrats. For these people, Trump is God and his opponents are the devil. It’s as simple as that. This is a community that takes care of its own, believing, perhaps with some justification, that no one else will. They don’t see the corruption or the scam. Come to a protector of the faith. Only one local we spoke to said she had changed her mind and intended to vote for Talarico because she didn’t like the pettiness of the administration or the way Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had ruined the schools. She was a teacher who had been defunded for the arts, but she is a minority at Marshall. This is the real Texas, not the “strange” Austin state-within-a-state where comedy club Democrats mock rednecks and the LGBTQ community enjoys a rare freedom of spirit. This is where Texas will elect its next senator. If Talarico wants to be that man, he’ll have to persuade these Texans that he won’t sell them down the river. Water under the bridge for Red Ken Ken Paxton must have missed the Oval Office memo on data centers. You know, the one that says data centers are great and every city and village should have one and that people who don’t want them are crazy and selfish. How else would you explain why Trumper’s Republican Senate candidate and the Texas attorney general sent 156 letters Thursday warning data centers across the state not to use too much water? Mitch doesn’t move… Any moneySenator Mitch McConnell may be short on time, but he has plenty of cash in his coffers, sources tell The Swamp. Mitch McConnell is not running for re-election, leaving his Senate seat in Kentucky open for the first time in more than 40 years, but he clearly has a huge sum of campaign cash in the final stretch. While others who have claimed to have spoken with McConnell insist he has been talking about the importance of the midterm elections, he has more than $7 million in cash on hand sitting there in his campaign coffers. He has made no donations to federal Republican candidates or transfers to the GOP despite facing an unpleasant political cycle. Maybe you could send Andy Barr a few dollars… Kentucky Senate candidate Rep. Andy Barr might want to ask Kentucky’s current senator for some change. Luke Sharrett/Getty Images Could this be the GOP’s worst candidate? Colorado Republicans have long grappled with the future direction of the party, with a history of controversial Republican presidencies, mutual distrust and fundamental disagreements about what it means to be a Republican. The party has struggled to regain relevance in the solidly blue state. But things have only gotten worse since Victor Marx came onto the scene. First, The Swamp revealed its domestic violence and misogyny. Then came a record $58,000 fine for campaign violations. Now, Republicans are abandoning him en masse, with former Congressman Ken Buck this week becoming the latest to abandon ship, joining fifteen other Republicans who support Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser. “I feel like it was the right thing to do and staying true to myself and my integrity is more important,” says Victor Marx. Simply the worst? Hyoung Chang/Denver Post via Getty Images What Trump is saying: “I told her (Katie Zacharia), ‘Honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider. Think about it, but I would reconsider.'” answered.” Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan in his Thursday night debate with Democrat Mary Peltola. Mary Peltola and Dan Sullivan during a debate in Alaska. What Democrats say: “I’m prepared,” Peltola responded. And finally… Place your bets: Who will win the Texas Senate race? What they’re saying on Kalshi: James Talarico – 62 percent Ken Paxton – 38 percent What they’re saying on Polymarket: James Talarico – 62 percentKen Paxton – 40 percent Unlock a year of full access to The Daily Beast for $35.What’s includedUnlimited access (web + app)Exclusive ad-free newslettersComment accessDaily CrosswordSneak peek at releases and eventsAuto-renewal at $5.99 monthly. Cancel anytimeWhat’s includedDiscounted annual rate – save 47%Unlimited access (web + app)Exclusive ad-free newslettersComment accessDaily crosswordSneak peek at releases and eventsAutomatic renewal for $59.99/year. Cancel anytimeBest valueWhat’s includedDiscounted annual rateFull access to the Daily Beast Substack ($60 value)*Premium ad-free readingUnlimited access (web + app)Exclusive ad-free newslettersComment accessDaily crosswordSpoiler for releases and eventsAuto-renew for $119.99/year. Cancel anytime*Access to Substack provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. 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