Paxton Privately Admits Trump Convention Hurt His Senate Bid, Leaked Audio Reveals

Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton privately acknowledged that President Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas damaged his campaign, according to newly leaked audio.At a private fundraiser at Washington last week attended by roughly a dozen conservative donors and lobbyists, Mr. Paxton was asked, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?” It is unclear from the recording who the questioner was referring to.“So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers,” Mr. Paxton replied, according to the audio cited by The New York Times. “Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”The recording was shared with The Times by an attendee who opposes Mr. Paxton’s campaign and was granted anonymity because the remarks were made in private. Three other people with knowledge of the event confirmed Mr. Paxton’s attendance, and two recalled him being asked the question about Mr. Trump’s impact on his numbers.Mr. Paxton now has just a 38.6 percent chance to win the Senate seat, compared to a 61.4 percent chance for his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, according to VoteHub.Nick Maddux, a senior adviser to Mr. Paxton, dismissed the story when asked for comment. “This is more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist,” Mr. Maddux told the paper. “Our latest poll from the last week has Ken Paxton leading by three points, and every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September. Ken Paxton is going to win this race, and he looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump, including when he comes to Texas this week.”But a poll from Mason-Dixon Polling & Research — conducted September 8 to 10, just as the convention was being held — showed Mr. Talarico with a 3-point lead. A Big Data survey released Sunday suggests the Democrat now has a 6-point lead.Mr. Paxton’s private comments stand in contrast to his public alignment with Mr. Trump, who championed his candidacy and pushed for the unusual midterm convention held in Mr. Paxton’s home state earlier this month. Mr. Paxton held a prominent seat at the Dallas event and used it to court donors, while Mr. Trump both praised and ribbed him onstage.“He may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Trump said at the convention, “but you know what, he is — he’s the greatest attorney general in America.”Despite Mr. Trump’s backing, Mr. Paxton has struggled to pull ahead of Mr. Talarico in recent polling, raising the possibility that Republicans could lose a Senate seat in Texas for the first time in 38 years. Mr. Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., has committed $20 million to boost Mr. Paxton’s campaign in the race’s final stretch.Mr. Trump, for his part, has publicly rejected the notion that the convention hurt Mr. Paxton. “The fact that we had such a successful convention really helped Ken Paxton,” Mr. Trump said days after the event. “He was a big part of it. The convention helped Ken Paxton a lot.”With five weeks until Election Day, the outcome may hinge on whether outside spending and Texas’s conservative base can offset the slipping momentum Mr. Paxton himself acknowledged behind closed doors.

Paxton Privately Admits Trump Convention Hurt His Senate Bid, Leaked Audio Reveals

Paxton Privately Admits Trump Convention Hurt His Senate Bid, Leaked Audio Reveals

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