GOP’s hard-right turn has these Republicans unsure they’ll vote for Paxton
Former Southlake Mayor John Huffman is struggling to see a place for himself in a Republican Party that put Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on the November ballot for U.S. Senate.
The embattled attorney general’s career has been plagued by professional and personal scandal, including allegations of infidelity and misusing his office to benefit a political donor, but has largely come out unscathed. He reached a new high May 26 when he won a bruising Republican primary runoff against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
For Huffman, who most recently ran as a Republican in a special election for state Senate in North Texas, Paxton’s victory despite perceived character flaws has him questioning what do in November, when Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico, an Austin-area Texas House representative, for the statewide seat.
“I don’t see much of any of myself in the Democratic Party,” Huffman said in an interview. “I also don’t see much of me in the modern Republican Party that has delivered another message that it does not care about character.”
He thinks of former President Bill Clinton’s time in office.
“My formative political years were around Bill Clinton’s scandals and a Republican Party that was very clear that character counts,” Huffman said. He soon added, “Now we nominate Ken Paxton, who doesn’t even pretend anymore.”
“The defense you hear is, ‘Oh, well — we’re not electing a pastor. We’re electing a senator or president or whatever,’ ” he said. It’s ironic, Huffman said, “because that is exactly the defense that the Democrats used for Bill Clinton in the 90s, and it wasn’t good enough then, and it’s not good enough now.”
The passion in his voice was apparent as the former mayor laid out the predicament he and some other Republicans are in: wondering what to do in November with two candidates that were far from his first choice to represent Texas in Washington as one of the state’s two U.S. senators.
Some Texas Republicans say they feel unheard and left behind in the version of the GOP where those furthest to the political right are running the show and controlling the party’s message. That divide was on display for the country when Cornyn, a four-term senator with a gentlemanly reputation, lost to Paxton, an embattled MAGA champion, by more than 28 points.
It’s these voters that Republicans need to ingratiate in the five months before the Nov. 3 general election, Huffman said.
It’s also these voters Democrats will try to attract.
‘The party seems to not be listening’
Huffman isn’t alone in his dissatisfaction on the Senate runoff’s outcome or his lack of clarity about what to do come November. Former U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price all said as much in interviews with the Star-Telegram.
“For those of us who were Cornyn supporters the party seems to not be listening,” Price said in an email. “These are lifelong Republicans who may either not vote in November or vote for the other party.”
In a text message, Price called Paxton “corrupt and immoral” and said she won’t vote for him. She’ll most likely sit the race out, but said she will study Talarico. Right now, though, he’s too liberal for her.
“Bad choices for mainstream voters!” she said in a text message.
Talarico says any Texan who “doesn’t want a crook as their U.S. senator” has a place in his campaign.
“If I had to sum up my message to John Cornyn’s supporters looking for an alternative to corrupt Ken Paxton, I’d tell them this: I don’t answer to any one political party. I answer to you, the people of Texas,” the Democrat said in a written statement.
Some Cornyn supporters have committed to backing Paxton in the fall. While Cornyn didn’t name Paxton in his election night concession speech, he said that he would support the Republican ticket.
High-ranking Republicans, including party leaders in the Senate, are calling for voters to coalesce around Paxton. They come as Republicans in Texas try to hold on to seats up and down the ballot and as national Republicans try to keep control of the U.S. House and Senate in what could be a vulnerable midterm election year.
“One thing I know about Texas: We’re not going to let them take it,” Paxton said on election night.
His campaign and the Tarrant and Texas Republican parties did not return requests for comment.
The Senate runoff was a full-out brawl. Paxton pitched Cornyn as an insufficiently conservative senator and the anti-Trump candidate. Cornyn’s campaign highlighted controversies associated with Paxton and painted him as a drag on downballot candidates in November.
“After every primary, some Republicans need time to get over their losses,” Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare said in a written statement.
The GOP has “several strong nominees with better ideas and policies,” he said, turning attention to criticisms of Talarico.
“I support our Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and urge every Texas Republican to do the same,” he said. “The stakes are too high to do otherwise. Republican primary voters have spoken. It’s time to unite behind every Republican nominee.”
Other Paxton backers have said the choice is explicit for any Republican voter, citing Talarico’s stances on illegal immigration and the border, gender issues and even his religious views as too far left for Texas.
But for voters like Huffman, the choice isn’t as simple as red versus blue. He points to his run for Texas Senate District 9 seat as a cautionary tale.
Huffman was the first out in a three-way November special election for the Tarrant County district that includes part of Fort Worth. The open office needed to be filled mid-term after former Sen. Kelly Hancock moved to the Texas Comptroller’s office.
Labeled insufficiently conservative, Huffman didn’t advance to a Jan. 31 runoff. Republican Leigh Wambsganss did, with some of the state’s most hard-right leaders and groups in her corner. She was joined by Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a union leader who was the only Democrat in the race and the night’s top vote-getter.
To the shock of the nation, Rehmet — who ran a race focused on kitchen table issues like the economy and jobs — now represents the historically red seat, a district that President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024. Rehmet and Wambsganss are back on the ballot in November for a full term.
As Huffman sees it, the “remnant” voters — which he describes as those concerned about competence and character — have been taken for granted. It was assumed they’d show up and vote for the Republican candidate in runoff elections, he said.
“The Republicans need them — need us — in the general” election this fall, Huffman said. “Especially this year.”
He hopes the state Senate race is instructive for Republican Party leadership.
“We’re really at risk for an SD-9 to play out statewide,” he said.
Whitley is arguably on the extreme end of the middle. He’s unafraid to buck the GOP and has a reputation for supporting Democrats when he thinks it’s the right thing to do.
But the former Republican Tarrant County judge, who didn’t seek reelection in 2022 after nearly three decades in county office, is an example of someone who was willing to flip parties in the Senate District 9 race – cheering Rehmet as a candidate who will “roll up their sleeves and focus on the basics” such as strengthening schools, upgrading infrastructure and affordability for families.
Whitley said he might flip again, this time in the U.S. Senate race.
“Talarico is looking real good to me,” Whitley said. “I won’t vote for Paxton. Period. End of statement.”
Former officials search for their place in the Republican Party
In an interview, Price, the former Fort Worth mayor, said was disappointed by the May 26 runoff result but “not terribly surprised.” Turnout was decent, but a lot of the — she starts to say “middle of the road” voters but stops herself — “more reasonable conservatives” didn’t vote, Price said.
Roughly 880,000 people voted for Paxton in March versus 890,000 in May. About 502,000 people voted for Cornyn in May compared to 910,000 in March.
“Those people didn’t jump to Paxton,” Price said. “They just didn’t vote, and that’s a shame. And that tells you the messaging from the party probably isn’t right.”
There is a segment of Republican voters being left out because they don’t vote in primaries, Whitley said. Many active members of the party aren’t interested in “confrontation and fierce debate,” he added.
“And unfortunately, those who are on the radical side have no problems just calling you a RINO or anything else,” Whitley said. “If you don’t go along with 100% of what they want, then ... you’re dead to them.”
Primaries often favor the more extreme candidate politically, resulting in what can be bitter partisan brawls as campaigns fight to be the victor and make it to the November ballot.
Huffman puts it this way: “The hard-right primary machine, which is well-funded and well-organized, dominates Republican primaries and dominates runoffs.”
“Now, we’ve got a nominee for the U.S. Senate who is scandal ridden going up against a Democrat whose policies I don’t share,” he said. “It’s put people like me – and there’s a lot of us – in a really, really hard position.”
Price said she doesn’t know that there’s a place for her in the Republican Party as it currently exists: “I don’t think there is one right now,” she said.
She lost a 2022 primary bid to succeed Whitley as Tarrant County judge to O’Hare, who focused on social issues and spending cuts during his bid and was perceived as the more conservative candidate.
“They painted me as a RINO in that county judge race,” she said. “No one’s reached out. … I work on party issues on the outside some and try to get everybody to vote and talk about reasonable Republican issues, but that’s not the message the party’s sending right now.”
The former mayor sees herself as a “fiscal conservative” and not a “social liberal.”
“So I suppose that makes me more of a moderate Republican, although right now, a ‘moderate Republican’ — that seems to be a dirty word,” Price said.
Huffman said that he’s been labeled as a “moderate” in primaries but that if you look at his record in office, he’s not: He’s a conservative who doesn’t see a lot of what he cares about reflected in the modern Texas Republican Party.
“The hard left hates me as much as the hard right, because I’m not anything close to a moderate,” Huffman said. “What I am is a … small-government, low-taxes, low-regulation, grow-business conservative Republican, who cares deeply about integrity in office and who cares about doing an excellent job.”
Whitley doesn’t “publicize himself” as a Republican anymore but said he leans conservative and is more of a Republican than a “liberal Democrat.”
He intends to vote for Texas Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat running for comptroller, over Republican nominee and former state Sen. Don Huffines. Former Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French also won’t get Whitley’s vote for railroad commissioner. That will go to state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat.
In 2022, Whitley picked Mike Collier, who was running as a Democrat for lieutenant governor, over incumbent Republican Dan Patirck. This year, Whitley says he’ll support Collier again, who is now running as an independent.
He endorsed U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat, over Republican Sen. Ted Cruz during the senator’s 2024 election bid. He also endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president that year.
“I’m looking at the individual,” Whitley said. “I’m looking for somebody who wants to go in there and solve problems and not just create them. And I don’t mind if the other side gets some publicity as a part of the win.”
This year’s GOP primaries focused on allegiance to Trump, curtailing so-called Islamification and social issues.
Price would like to see the party focusing on bringing in jobs, improving public education, lowering taxes and gas prices.
Failing to focus on issues that people can relate to — particularly young people with families — runs the risk of alienating some voters, Price said.
“Democrats haven’t had much of a message, either, but if they decide to turn themselves around and get better messaging, the Republican Party could darn well lose these folks that have always been good conservatives, just not the radical conservatives,” Price said.
It’s not that the “red meat” issues don’t matter, Huffman said.
“But that’s not what normal Texans are talking about,” he said.
Huffman didn’t rule out voting for Paxton in the general election, but he’s expressed disapproval of the attorney general’s character and has concerns about some of the other Republican statewide candidates.
It’s not that he wants to be lobbied, Huffman explained in a text message. He wants to watch the race as an ordinary voter would — observing Paxton’s actions and attitude over the coming months, including the way he treats Cornyn voters and if he repents for “his well-documented betrayals of his wife,” state Sen. Angela Paxton, a McKinney Republican.
“The whole point of being a politically homeless conservative is that I’m not on autopilot for either party,” he said. “I have to be earned, one race at a time.”
Looking ahead to the general election
Many top Republican leaders like – those backed Cornyn, Paxton and ones who opted not to endorse during the primary – are rallying around Paxton, in hopes of bringing together a disjointed Republican electorate ahead of November.
Analysts, including many Republicans, perceived Paxton as the weaker candidate against Talarico in November, which some party leaders fear could require extra resources and campaign help that draws away from other competitive Senate races.
“We’ve got to pivot,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said in a recent interview, according to Axios. “Losing is not an option when it comes to the state of Texas and what it means for our majority in the Senate.”
But some Republicans aren’t buying.
There’s “not a chance in hell” Jason Baldwin is voting for Paxton in November.
“Character matters,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, white, Black, yellow, green: We all have a character, and Ken Paxton does not align with that for me.”
Baldwin previously served as the president of the Log Cabin Republicans of Fort Worth, a political group for LGBTQ Republicans that has since disbanded because Baldwin said it wasn’t welcomed into the party.
Would he not vote in the race? Perhaps. Voting for Talarico is an option, but he needs to do more research.
A lifelong Republican voter and staunch supporter of limited government, Baldwin doesn’t believe in policies like requiring the Ten Commandments be hung in classrooms and dictating what books can and cannot be read.
Baldwin said he particularly needs to learn where the Democratic nominee stands on immigration, ensuring the government is operating with a balanced budget and ending and staying out of wars.
“What I know is I don’t align with what’s happening right now” in the GOP, he said.
