Former GOP Lawmakers and SC Justices
Back Talarico as Paxton Courts Base Vote
Capitol Inside
September 10, 2026
Democrat James Talarico sought to steal GOP foe Ken Paxton's thunder on Thursday when he touted endorsements for a U.S. Senate bid from 21 Republicans who are former or current officials including three who served in Congress, four who were Texas House members and two ex-state Supreme Court judges.
As Paxton rallied with President Donald Trump in Dallas at a midterm convention that's tailored exclusively for the conservative base, Talarico struck a blow for bipartisan leadership with the unveiling of his latest list of support from Republicans that included a former mayor in the GOP event's host city.
Talarico's backers from the GOP feature Steve Bartlett, who represented Dallas in the U.S. House for eight years before stepping down in 1991 when he was elected to lead the city as its top elected official. Former two-member congressional member Alan Steelman from Dallas is supporting the Democrat in the Texas Senate race along ex-U.S. House Republican Adam Kinzinger
Tom Phillips, who led the Texas Supreme Court for 16 years as the chief justice, appears on the Talarico endorsement list along with another former state Supreme Court justice in Deborah Hankinson. Four former Texas House Republicans - Jimmy Don Aycock, Susan King, Bennett Ratliff and Todd Smith - are backing Talarico for the fight against Paxton.
Aycock served as the chairman of the Public Education Committee during two regular sessions in a 10-year stint as a state representative from Killeen. Ratliff, who was based in Coppell as a House member, is the son of former Texas lieutenant governor and Senate member4 Bill Ratliff. The younger Ratliff is the current chair of the planning and zoning commission in Plano.
Talarico had James Edge, the mayor pro tem in the red bastion of Bryan, at the crowning spot on the endorsement list.
"We’re bringing Texans together onto one team to take power back for working people," Talarico said in a post on X. "Because the real fight in this country isn't left versus right — it's top versus bottom."
Paxton and the Republicans at Trump's midterm rally have focused their efforts and rhetoric on base voters on the right without any concerted attempt to attract independents, moderate GOP voters, centrist Democrats and Hispanics who backed Trump here in 2024 in record numbers.
While Republicans in Texas have always relied on some degree of support outside the base in statewide races, the Republicans have decided they can keep Texas red with a strong turnout by conservatives without the need for support from the middle.
Paxton in the meantime is getting lousy reviews for a brief speech he delivered at the Trump Dallas rally on Wednesday night. While the audience in a half-empty American Airlines Center gave Paxton a loud ovation when he emerged on the stage, the attorney general received a half-hearted response from the audience with a speech that he delivered without emotion, feeling or material that was fresh.
The most important Paxton speech in a long career was so bland that Fox News interrupted it for commentary from a reporter at the convention and a former RNC chair. Trump heaped praise on Paxton for the work he's done for a dozen years as the state AG. But the president but have done Paxton more harm than good by making fun of his appearance and his speaking abilities during a kenyote speech as the evening's nearly two hour finale.
Paxton's probability of winning on the prediction market Kalshi fell overnight from 54 percent to 50 percent where it stood on Thursday.
more to come ...
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