Cornyn's Camp Seeks to Milk Paxton
Personal Turmoil with Love Shack Ad
Capitol Inside March 17, 2026
U.S. Senator John Cornyn celebrated Saint Patrick's Day on Tuesday with the unveiling of a new commercial that takes viewers on a joy ride in a green Chrysler convertible from the 1960s with a dude named Dave P and a pair of female lovers en route to a secret hideaway for drinking booze and having other kinds of fun. It's a magnificent day for a cruise through the country with the top down on the old convertible - Dave P and his women are ready to party the moment they arrive at Ken's Love Shack.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's dueling the veteran incumbent in a GOP runoff in the U.S. Senate
race here, is the character who's portrayed in the 81-second video that the Texans for John Cornyn PAC posted on YouTube today with a cast that appeared to be generated by AI.
The new Cornyn spot is the most blatant attempt yet to capitalize on Paxton's tumultuous and tantalizing personal life, which took its latest wild turn last year when his wife, GOP State Senator Angela Paxton, filed for divorce on "biblical grounds" in an apparent reference to the estranged spouse's alleged love life beyond the bounds of wedlock. The Paxtons had been married for 38 years before she sued to end it.
But allegations of Paxton's infidelity had been widely reported when the Republicans who led the Texas House engineered his impeachment near the end of the regular session in 2023. The crux of the corruption charges at the heart of the historic ordeal revolved on the AG's dealings with donor Nate Paul and an alleged love interest who was tied to them.
Paul is a character in the new Cornyn attack ad that shows him decked in prison garb with black and white stripes - handing stacks of cash to the Paxton figure in one scene while playing the keyboards in another at the end when the attorney general is singing into a microphone to the words of the ad's title song. Paul was indicted in 2023 by a federal grand jury on an assortment of charges related to business deals including the falsification of documents and perjury.
Paxton had faced security charges that a grand jury served up in his home base of Collin County during his first year on the job as the state's top lawyer. The FBI had been investigating allegations of bribery involving Paul when the House launched the impeachment probe. But the federal probe appeared to fizzle after Paxton's acquittal by Texas Senate Republicans later that year in a trial on the charges that the House approved. The verdict cleared the way for the AG to return to work immediately after being suspended for several months pending the outcome of the case.
The new Cornyn parody spot has the faces of the women with the Dave P character covered. They are identified as MISTRESS #1 and MISTRESS #2 in the Texans for John Cornyn PAC ad. The women are wearing different dresses in different scenes. MISTRESS #2 is decked in a large pink hat at times in the car and the condo where they've come to party. But some folks who view the new Cornyn ad might be able to recognize this particular actor - assuming she simply isn't an image generated by AI - in one frame that shows the side of her face exposed.
One of the women is riding in the back seat before both are squeezed beside the driver. The love shack is located in some apartments that are fancier on the inside than they are on the outside when the trio arrives. The AG's pseudo-name was outed before the impeachment trial. It's re-introduced in the Cornyn ad in a line in the title song on how the lead character "got himself a ride on Uber tonight" before checking a cell phone text that says "Dave P your Uber is on the way."
The prosecutors for the House in the Paxton impeachment case discovered that the attorney general had used the fake name at time for ride-sharing trips at night when he was ostensibly off the clock. But Paxton's personal turmoil and baggage didn't keep him from running even with the longtime incumbent in the first round of the 2026 midterm elections when he and Cornyn scored 42 percent and 41 percent of the primary vote respectively.
The appearance of a second mistress may seem like Hollywood taking liberties to some who hadn't heard stories about a newer girlfriend than the one from the impeachment.
