Inside a ballroom at Dallas’ Westin hotel, Fox News projected election results from around the country as Ken Paxton’s Election Night gathering unfolded.
For a while, Paxton’s supporters held on to the hope that polling had overstated Democrat James Talarico’s prospects while underestimating Republican turnout.
As the evening progressed, however, the numbers painted a far less optimistic picture, and the mood in the room began to change.
At about 10 p.m., after television networks called the race for Talarico, someone suddenly turned off the screen—apparently to keep the result from reaching the roughly 150 supporters gathered inside.
Unlike President Trump, whom the Daily Mail reported had withdrawn to the White House residence and sulked as returns came in, Paxton delivered an unusually gracious concession speech soon after it became clear he had lost a Texas US Senate seat Republicans had held for nearly four decades.
Paxton said he would ‘pray’ for Talarico, then remained at the event until 11 p.m., greeting supporters and posing for photographs.
His calm public response, however, appears to have been shaped in part by the belief that the defeat was not primarily his fault.
A senior campaign aide told the Daily Mail on Tuesday night that Paxton privately blames Trump for the Republican campaign’s disastrous showing.
Republican US Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton delivers his concession speech at an election night watch party in Dallas, Texas, after losing to Democrat James Talarico
President Donald Trump walks with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, right, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, left, at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport during a visit to an Apple manufacturing plant on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019
‘He hurt us. We couldn’t get away from him,’ the campaign insider said of the president.
The aide was referring to more than Trump’s falling popularity.
The staffer described one instance in which the campaign believed the president’s involvement directly disrupted its strategy.
A group of mothers had planned an event for Paxton shortly before Election Day, an appearance the campaign hoped would help him connect with female voters uneasy about his personal scandals.
But the White House notified organizers just days beforehand that Trump would be returning to Texas—one of five visits he made to the state before the midterms. The mothers’ event was ultimately canceled.
Trump had already faced criticism for endorsing Paxton over John Cornyn, the incumbent senator and a figure viewed by many as a more traditional conservative.
Paxton, a staunch Trump ally during his tenure as Texas attorney general, entered the race under the shadow of several professional and personal controversies, including a highly publicized affair with a married Christian influencer that was revealed by the Daily Mail.
Trump acknowledged that he backed Paxton because he believed Cornyn had not shown sufficient loyalty.
The aide said the campaign took some comfort from the idea that the broader backlash against Republicans in Washington would have doomed any GOP nominee.
‘That’s the silver lining. I can honestly say Cornyn would have been in the same boat,’ the aide said.
U.S. Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) greets supporters at a Whataburger restaurant after a midterm election night watch party on November 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas
The aide cited the scale of the Republican collapse across Texas, including Governor Greg Abbott’s apparent loss of the firm political control he had maintained for years.
‘If Abbott went down, do you really think Cornyn was going to outperform Abbott?’ the Paxton staffer said.
The aide also acknowledged Talarico’s strengths.
‘A geriatric John Cornyn going up against a charismatic and inspiring Talarico?’ the aide said sarcastically.
According to the Associated Press, Talarico carried the Lone Star State with 55.1 percent of the vote, or 5,445,121 ballots, compared with Paxton’s 43 percent, or 4,249,752 votes.
Even so, questions remain over whether Paxton’s personal history contributed to the scale of his defeat.
In 2023, the Texas House impeached Paxton over allegations including bribery, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, abuse of public trust and other misconduct. He was acquitted by the state Senate, remained attorney general and denied wrongdoing.
Paxton has also been caught cheating on his wife twice.
During his impeachment trial, legislators heard allegations that he had arranged a quid pro quo with a donor, offering assistance in finding a job for his former mistress, Laura Olson.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate for re-election, reacts while delivering a concession speech at an election night rally during the US midterm elections in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 3
The Daily Mail later reported details of his second and current affair, leading his wife, Angela Paxton, to file for divorce last year on ‘Biblical grounds.’
In September, the Daily Mail reported on Paxton’s relationship with Tracy Duhon.
The report detailed how the pair moved into a $2 million home and took luxury trips to Iceland and London with Duhon during the summer, at the height of Paxton’s campaign.
Separately, a years-long felony securities fraud case was dismissed in 2024 under an agreement that required Paxton to complete community service, take legal ethics classes and pay restitution to investors. He denied any wrongdoing.
Still, it remains uncertain whether any Republican candidate could have stopped the Democratic wave that swept through Texas.
Democrats even captured all five South Texas congressional seats that had been redrawn to give Republicans an advantage.
Abbott had dominated state politics for 12 years and entered the election with more than $105 million available to support his re-election campaign.
‘He had that stranglehold over every statewide elected office,’ Texas Democratic strategist Christian Archer told the Daily Mail.
Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller leaves after meetings with staff for US President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 30, 2016
Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller, who lost a Republican primary to an Abbott-backed candidate, argued that Abbott—not Trump—was responsible for the Texas Republican Party’s decline.
‘He got too big for his britches. Any cowboy can figure out what happened,’ Miller told the Daily Mail after the results had settled.
Miller said he fell out of favor with Abbott after warning the governor about concerns among ranchers and rural voters.
Those concerns included data centers, Flock surveillance cameras, as well as increasing prices for fuel, seed, feed and fertilizer.
Although artificial-intelligence data centers had become a major concern for those voters, Abbott accepted $9 million in contributions from donors connected to the industry, according to the Texas Tribune.
‘We weren’t listening to the people. It was death by 1,000 cuts. You add them all up and we got our a**es kicked,’ Miller said.
Miller described the state GOP as being in turmoil, with its leaders ‘pointing fingers at each other.’
According to Paxton’s aide, Abbott had presidential ambitions. Miller, however, predicted the governor would not seek office again.
‘Abbott’s toast. He can’t run for dog catcher. He destroyed our party,’ Miller said.
As for Paxton’s next move, his aide said the former candidate had not given it serious consideration because he never expected such a ‘brutal’ defeat.
‘MAGA is dead—dead,’ Archer said. ‘That now belongs in the history books.’