Former Texas Republican House Speaker Slams Paxton’s “List of Scandals as Long as a CVS receipt”

AUSTIN, TX — Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus — a Republican who led the chamber for five sessions — slammed Corrupt Ken Paxton, saying Texas Republicans are  “really pushing their luck with Ken Paxton at the top” while praising James Talarico for his “sincere attempt to welcome Republican voters and independents into his campaign.” 

Straus said that Paxton has a “list of scandals as long as a CVS receipt,” joining a chorus of other Republicans sounding the alarm on Paxton and the “‘biblical’ civil war” breaking out in the GOP. Meanwhile, Senator John Cornyn and former President George W. Bush are openly campaigning for every top Republican Senate candidate except for Paxton. 

See for yourself: 

Bloomberg: Texas Republicans Splinter as MAGA Candidates Test Party Limits

September 24, 2026

By Joe Lovinger and Julie Fine

• Republican Joe Straus spent 10 years as the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Now he’s the latest to join a chorus of GOP leaders voicing doubts about US Senate nominee Ken Paxton, who’s trailing Democrat James Talarico in polls with less than six weeks until Election Day.

• “Republicans are really pushing their luck with Ken Paxton at the top,” Straus said in an interview Thursday. “He has a list of scandals as long as a CVS receipt.”

• While Straus declined to say how he plans to vote, he said he understood Talarico’s appeal.

• “I admire Talarico for making a deliberate and sincere attempt to welcome Republican voters and independents into his campaign,” the former speaker said.

• Straus’ doubts echoed the concerns of other senior Texas Republicans, some of whom have broken with candidates from their own party. 

• The divisions have deepened despite urgent calls for unity from other Republican leaders as the GOP works to defend its narrow US Senate majority and extend decades of dominance in Texas.

• Karl Rove, a longtime adviser to former President George W. Bush, recently said he wouldn’t vote for Bo French, the Republican nominee for a state oil and gas regulator. Rove slammed French as a “bigot” after the candidate’s social media post about nonwhite students cheering at a University of Texas at Austin football game.

• Senator John Cornyn, who lost to Paxton in a fractious GOP primary that inflamed tensions between the party’s traditional and MAGA wings, hosted Bush at a fundraiser this week to support six Republican Senate candidates — but not Paxton. 

• Since his primary loss, Cornyn has criticized Paxton as “lazy” and a “poor campaigner.”

• Paxton, the state attorney general, was impeached in 2023 by the Republican-dominated Texas House of Representatives on charges of bribery and misuse of power. Paxton denied the accusations and was acquitted by the state Senate.

• He has also been dogged by allegations of adultery, and his wife, state Senator Angela Paxton, said last year she was seeking a divorce on “Biblical grounds.” 

• Still, she recently told a group of Republican women to vote GOP “even if we’re mad at them.”

• At a Republican midterm convention this month in Dallas, Paxton addressed party activists and national donors in a bid to boost his campaign. Asking for support, he said Talarico “is the most radical Democrat in Texas history, but he’s also the most well funded.”

• Texas hasn’t elected a Democratic US senator since 1988. But recent polls show Paxton narrowly trailing Talarico as frustration with high prices and Republican governance have combined to stir Democratic hopes of an upset.

• Talarico has vastly outraised Paxton among individual donors, but political action committees tied to national Republican leadership and President Donald Trump have poured tens of millions of dollars into the race. 

• The GOP is looking to stave off a loss in a state Trump won by almost 14 points in 2024.

• Straus served in the Texas House of Representatives for 14 years. During that time, he led the state’s Republican majority as speaker for five sessions, tying the record for the most terms as leader.

• Toward the end of his tenure, Straus clashed with his party’s more ideologically conservative wing over a proposed “bathroom bill” that would have regulated which restrooms transgender people could use in public universities and government buildings. The legislation ultimately failed, largely due to Straus’ opposition.

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