Texas’ Republican Senate runoff is getting ugly. And we’re guessing it may get a whole lot uglier.
On Wednesday, incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn released an attack ad portraying his challenger, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as a one of those folks the late Pope John Paul II described as being “comfortable with sin.” The minute-long spot accuses Paxton of committing adultery, stealing and bearing false witness — violations of three of the 10 Commandments.
“What do a burner phone, a $1,000 Mont Blanc pen and this cash machine have in common? They are symbols of Ken Paxton’s depravity,” a female narrator says before a deep, reverb-drenched male voice booms out each of the commandments the attorney general has allegedly broken.
Specific accusations of un-Christian behavior in the ad include Paxton’s alleged sexual affair and coverup, accusations he stole a pricey pen while in a courthouse security line and an ongoing scandal in which he reportedly claimed three separate properties as his primary residence to get lower mortgage rates.
“Judgment Day comes for all of us eventually,” the ad concludes. “This year in Texas, Ken Paxton faces the voters.”
The 10 Commandments theme woven throughout the political ad appears to reference to Paxton’s ongoing enforcement of a 2025 Republican-backed state law requiring the Christian behavioral code be displayed in every public school classroom. The Texas Attorney General’s Office has filed lawsuits against Leander ISD, Round Rock ISD and Galveston ISD for failing to do so.
The searing attack ad comes as Cornyn and Paxton are locked in a runoff to see who moves ahead to Texas’ U.S. Senate primary election. Politico reports President Donald Trump plans to endorse Cornyn and demand Paxton drop out, but the president has yet to do so.
Paxton may have thrown a curve ball into that plan when he said he would voluntarily leave the race if the U.S. Senate passes the SAVE America Act. That Trump-backed legislation would require voters to show proof of citizenship and a photo ID to cast a ballot — something civil rights groups say would block millions from the polls.
The winner of the GOP primary will face off against Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian whom right-wingers began attacking this week for what they say are values incompatible with his biblical teachings. Whatever that means.
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