Prominent Conservative Outlet Slams Ken Paxton: “If You’re Running for Office, You Can’t Be a Slimeball and Be Lazy”

Aug 14

4 min read

AUSTIN, TX — The fury against Corrupt Ken Paxton continues as the National Review eviscerates Paxton for his scandal-plagued record and lazy campaigning as the “Worst of Both Worlds.”

In a scathing piece by the Nation Review’s senior political correspondent they write of Paxton, “You can’t be a terrible reprobate and be a lazy candidate. At minimum, you must be a hard-working terrible reprobate,” highlighting his recent brutal tele-townhall where he was asked about his infidelity.

Paxton has faced a brutal onslaught of friendly fire from Fox News and Texas Republicans for his disastrous campaign where he has been literally running from reporters, abandoning his own press conferences, and taking luxury European vacations with his mistress.

Read for yourself:

National Review: If You’re Running for Office, You Can’t Be a Slimeball and Be Lazy

August 14, 2026

By Jim Geraghty

Sure, Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton has a slew of scandals, a messy divorce, was impeached as state attorney general, is a terrible fundraiser, and traditionally runs significantly behind the rest of the Republicans who are running statewide. But at least he’s lazy!
The Worst of Both Worlds
Yes, we’ve seen some high-profile polling misses lately. But four of the last six polls showed Talarico ahead, and another one showed a tie. Keep in mind, in 2018, not a single poll the entire campaign showed Democrat Beto O’Rourke ahead of Republican Ted Cruz. Cruz won, 50.9 percent to 48.3 percent.
Yesterday on the Three Martini Lunch podcast, Greg and I noted political commentator and podcast host Mark Halperin channeling Texas Republicans’ extreme exasperation with Senate candidate Ken Paxton:
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll say again, I am the biggest skeptic for the last 25 years that a Democrat can win statewide in Texas. You can go check my record on this. And I’m telling you today, if Ken Paxton doesn’t come to Jesus on how to run for office, he will lose. I don’t care — I don’t care about the governor’s race, which will also be quite close. I’ve been talking to Texas Republicans who are not hostile to Ken Paxton. He is lazy. He’s a horrible fundraiser. He cannot answer questions about the controversies that reporters are going to ask him about.
He has alienated suburban voters, including suburban women. And he’s running against a guy who’s pretty damn good
And if nothing dramatic changes, it’s not just Paxton [who] has to get it in gear. If nothing dramatic changes, he will lose. It doesn’t mean Democrats will take back the Senate, but he will lose unless something dramatic happens. And most people I know don’t think he has it in him, because he’s a bad guy and a lazy guy. There, I said it. . .
I’m not saying he [Paxton] can’t win. The governor may drag him over the finish line and Talarico may make some mistake in the debates. But I’m telling you, do not think of this race as tossup. Do not think of this race as, “Well, in the end, of course, the Republican is going to win.” That’s not the state of the race right now.
Halperin’s guest, radio talk-show host Larry O’Connor, largely concurred:
I’m hearing from people that they are starting to get worried about how it’s looking in Texas. And yes, the one thing that people keep relying on is, “Well, it’s Texas.” And that ain’t going to fly post-Labor Day. Something’s going to have to look good for Ken Paxton.
If you’re wondering about Paxton’s fundraising:
The campaigns of Talarico and Ken Paxton reported raking in $31.6 million and $9.3 million, respectively, in their last quarterly filing with the Federal Election Commission. Since the beginning of 2025, Talarico’s campaign has lapped Paxton’s several times over, raising a cumulative $72.0 million compared to $16.8 million by Paxton’s.
The Democratic Senate nominee ended June with $23.3 million on hand, more than triple his GOP rival.
You can’t be a terrible reprobate and be a lazy candidate. At minimum, you must be a hard-working terrible reprobate.
There are a whole bunch of factors that the candidate and his campaign cannot control: the national political environment, media coverage, the state of the economy, up-ticket races, down-ticket races, and support from the national party, among others.
But two factors that the candidate and his campaign absolutely can control are A) the candidate’s schedule and how many events he does and B) the amount of time he spends fundraising. Some veteran strategists argue that a political campaign’s most valuable resource is the time of the candidate, because it’s so finite. You can always attempt to raise more money. You can’t raise more time.
Paxton held a telephone town hall recently, where a caller brought up the topic of his very messy extramarital affair:
Caller: Hi Paxton, it’s nice to meet you. I’m just wondering why did you cheat on your wife?
Paxton: Um, I’m not going to talk about personal issues that relate to my family, just like I don’t think you would want to discuss your marriage on a call with thousands of people. All I can tell you is that I’m proud of my kids. Got four wonderful kids. I’ve got seven grandchildren. Well, six and one on the way. And there’s a lot at stake. And so, while I care about this country, I’m not going to talk about things that would affect them. So, thank you much for your question.
First, I don’t think “you wouldn’t want to discuss your marriage on a call with thousands of people” is quite the sterling jujitsu defense that Paxton thinks it is. The caller might have a great marriage, or the caller might not even be married. Whatever the caller’s marital situation, the caller isn’t running to be a U.S. senator, Paxton is.
Second, if you’re a candidate who is infamous for pressuring other people to hire your mistress, among other scandals, you must be prepared for these sorts of questions.
Paxton is already saying that he isn’t getting enough support from national Republican groups. If he loses, get ready for a convenient, implausible, “It’s all the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s fault” narrative.

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