Paxton Could Put GOP's United Front in Peril
By Siding with Texas Tech in Big 12 Standoff
Brendan Sorsby Bet At Least $90K on Games
Capitol Inside
June 11, 2026
HOUSTON - U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton may have put the Texas GOP's unity crusade at risk on Thursday when the state attorney general's office that he runs warned the Big 12 against taking action against Texas Tech University to keep the school's new quarterback off the field this fall.
Paxton intervened on the behalf of the state university and Brendan Sorsby as the Big 12's board of directors huddled to ponder potential options to counter a judge's reinstatement of him after he was banned from play as a result of violations of NCAA rules that forbid gambling on college games.
According to an Associated Press report, Sorsby placed thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 on games when he played two years at Indiana University and three more at the University of Cincinnati before transferring to Tech for the upcoming season. Sorsby was one of four quarterbacks who were named in 2025 to Big 12 all-conference teams. The Denton product shifted his allegiance to the Red Raiders after scoring a deal worth millions of dollars for his services.
Texas Tech's most high-profile and biggest recent contributor - Fort Worth oil investor Cody Campbell - vowed on Wednesday that the Lubbock university would take the Big 12 to court if the league tried to find a way circumvent the judicial ruling that cleared the way for Sorsby's return to the team.
Paxton's threat of a lawsuit the day after Campbell's fighting words came as a surprise and concern to some of the players in Houston for the Texas Republican Party convention this week. Paxton ran the risk of picking fights with some of the people he will want to have on his side for a showdown with Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race at the top of the ballot here this fall.
Tilman Fertitta is a prime example as the University of Houston leading contributor and former chairman of the board of regents there. Fertitta has been temporarily preoccupied with a position as the U.S. ambassador to Italy under President Donald Trump. But his son - Patrick Fertitta - can keep him up to date as the current chairman of the UH board as a Governor Greg Abbott appointee.
The elder Fertitta's firm owns the Houston Rockets and a long and growing list of casinos that he crowned last week with the acquisition of the Caesars Palace that's based in Las Vegas. Paxton in contrast has been opposed to the expansion of wagering in Texas with sports betting and casinos.
Campbell has been a major donor to Trump, who's very close to Paxton, and Republican Party organizations at the federal level. Campbell has contributed millions to Republicans in Texas in recent years - donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to Governor Greg Abbott and $75,000 to House Speaker Dustin Burrows after he locked the gavel up at the end of 2024. Campbell contributed to former Speaker Dade Phelan when he was leading the state House before Burrows took his place,
Campbell gave $30,000 to Paxton before his re-election in 2022. Despite speculation at the convention that the AG had entered the ring with Campbell in the TT QB fight in a quest for funding for the Senate contest, federal records show that a $3,500 donation to Paxton for the Senate race in May had been returned.
more to come ...
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