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Old Divisions Fade as Republicans Rally Around [Texas Senate Candidate]Paxton
Texas Scorecard ^ | 8/6/2026 | Brandon Waltens

Posted on 08/07/2026 8:28:57 PM PDT by JeepersFreepers

Three years can be a long time in Texas politics.

Republicans who once stood on opposite sides of one of the party’s most bitter battles are now sharing stages, exchanging embraces, and urging voters to unite behind Attorney General Ken Paxton in November.

The display has unfolded during Paxton’s campaign tour this week, where several lawmakers with a history of conflict with the Republican senate nominee have appeared alongside him and encouraged voters to put past disagreements aside.

The most prominent example came in Allen, where State Rep. Jeff Leach introduced Paxton before a packed crowd and embraced him as he took the stage.

Leach and Paxton began their political careers as allies in Collin County, but their relationship deteriorated over time. Each has previously called for the other’s resignation, and Leach served as one of the House managers in Paxton’s 2023 impeachment trial.

Leach also fervently supported incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn against Paxton during the Republican primary earlier this year.

But with the primary now over, Leach said Republicans cannot allow previous disputes to divide the party in November.

“James Talarico is not your granddaddy’s blue-dog Democrat—he is a socialist through and through—in the mold of Mayor Mamdani and Bernie Sanders,” Leach told Texas Scorecard. “He wants to weaken our border security, undermine law enforcement, expand government, raise taxes, attack parental rights, erode religious liberty, and impose a radical agenda that is completely out of step with the values of Texas families.”

“Republicans cannot allow that to happen. We cannot sit on the sidelines. We cannot allow past disagreements to become excuses for division in November. Ken Paxton is a rock-solid conservative warrior and every single Republican in Texas must unite and do whatever we can to resoundingly elect him and every single Republican up and down the ballot in November.”

The same message was on display Wednesday in Houston, where State Reps. Briscoe Cain and Cody Vasut joined Paxton at another campaign event.

Like Leach, Cain and Vasut both served as House impeachment managers. Cain endorsed Paxton during the Republican primary, however, and both lawmakers have now joined the broader effort to rally Republicans around the party’s nominee.

The reconciliation extends beyond the three former impeachment managers.

House Speaker Dustin Burrows, who had supported Paxton’s impeachment in 2023 , has also now become a strong ally of the campaign. Burrows has appeared alongside Paxton publicly. Behind the scenes, he has worked to encourage House members to endorse and support the nominee.

At a recent rally hosted by State Rep. Shelley Luther in Sherman, Burrows joined statewide Republican candidates in calling for party unity.

“We must stand as one party fiercely dedicated to a singular mission—winning in November,” Burrows told attendees.

The Sherman gathering offered another example of former adversaries setting old disputes aside. Luther rose to prominence after being jailed for defying Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID-era shutdown orders, but welcomed the governor to her district six years later for a rally attended by more than 1,000 people.

Yet another example comes in the form of Don Huffines. Four years ago, Huffines ran a spirited primary campaign against Abbott. Now, the two have what Huffines has called a “great working relationship,” with Abbott recently appointing Huffines to serve as comptroller.

The Republican unity campaign comes as party leaders warn that Democrats are preparing to spend heavily in Texas and that Republican voters cannot take the state’s political alignment for granted.

Paxton is facing Democrat State Rep. James Talarico, who has sought to present himself as a viable statewide candidate despite a record Republicans describe as far outside the Texas mainstream.

While Republicans have increasingly closed ranks, divisions remain among Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who lost the Democrat primary to Talarico, has declined to endorse him and described the contest as a “racist race.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are preparing for the national party’s unprecedented midterm convention in Dallas next month, where the unity message is expected to remain central heading into the final stretch of the campaign.

Three years after Texas Republicans were consumed by internal conflict, many of the figures once at the center of those disputes are now standing together—with a shared focus on November.


TOPICS: Extended News; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: campaign; paxton; senate; talarico

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Defeated John Cornyn is refusing to endorse or campaign for Paxton. It appears that he would rather Talarico win.

Through June, Talarico has raised $31.6 million compared to Paxton's $9.3 million. The NRSC, SuperPACs and others raised $111 million to support incumbent Cornyn against Paxton in the primary. The Republican establishment appears to have been much more motivated to defeat Paxton in the primary than they are to defeat Talarico in the general election.

It is good to see that the RINOs that tried to impeach Paxton are now at least appearing to support him in the general.

1 posted on 08/07/2026 8:28:57 PM PDT by JeepersFreepers
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To: JeepersFreepers

Very good.


2 posted on 08/07/2026 8:45:34 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: JeepersFreepers

maybe el sayed and piker can campaign for talarico


3 posted on 08/07/2026 9:22:25 PM PDT by joshua c (collectivism has many names but the result is the same; the state is primary, the citizen is a slave)
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To: joshua c

Trump war chest needs to open up its coffers to Ken Paxton!


4 posted on 08/07/2026 10:19:32 PM PDT by princess leah
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To: princess leah
“Trump war chest needs to open up its coffers to Ken Paxton!”

Are a majority of Texans so stupid as to elect Tippy-Toe Talrico?

5 posted on 08/07/2026 10:35:52 PM PDT by Chgogal (There is no entity on Earth more arrogantly ignorant than a White Liberal Woman.)
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To: Chgogal

IMHO there aren’t that many Texans left in Texas. It’s been invaded by city dwelling Left Coast libtards, Indians, Chinese, and Muslims. They may live in Texas but don’t share the Texas ethos and sure as sh!t will vote for the gay socialist Brokeback Mountain freak boy.


6 posted on 08/08/2026 12:33:54 AM PDT by Skid289 (In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. )
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To: Chgogal

He reminds me of a hair-sprayed con man preacher who’s never done a day’s work with his hands.


7 posted on 08/08/2026 12:45:14 AM PDT by Lizavetta
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To: Lizavetta; PJ-Comix; PGalt; ViLaLuz; Elsie; metmom; Albion Wilde; fwdude; artichokegrower; ...
(hair-sprayed con man preacher)

We had one in our church decades ago. We helped him out; he stabbed us in the back; we who helped him, including the Senior Pastor who was key in hiring him. He even looked A LOT like Talarico, eerily.

I had NO IDEA who James Talarico even is until P.J. Comix mentioned him on a thread 🧵🧵🧵 several months back. It was like seeing a doppelganger of that guy.



8 posted on 08/08/2026 12:58:25 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They Did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: JeepersFreepers

Let’s hope that now the voters get their act together.


9 posted on 08/08/2026 2:15:14 AM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!)
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To: JeepersFreepers

But then there are the two execrable bag ladies Murkowski and Collins. Not team players.


10 posted on 08/08/2026 2:38:43 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo )
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To: Chgogal

Too bad and suicidal that Texas has so ardently encouraged immigration from third world countries like Illannoy, Kalifornia, New Wank, etc.


11 posted on 08/08/2026 2:43:53 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo )
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To: Bonemaker

Studies show that those coming into Texas from states like California are generally conservatives leaving blue states, and since whites in Texas voted 66% Trump in 2020 and 2024 that is probably true.


12 posted on 08/08/2026 3:39:06 AM PDT by ansel12
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To: Chgogal

Sadly, TX may be overrun with imbeciles of every size and degree.


13 posted on 08/08/2026 4:15:23 AM PDT by Theodore R. ( )
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To: Chgogal

About 47% of them or I look for Paxton to win by three or 4 percent


14 posted on 08/08/2026 4:41:07 AM PDT by wild74
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To: Chgogal

About 47% of them are I look for Paxton to win by three or 4 percent


15 posted on 08/08/2026 4:43:13 AM PDT by wild74
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To: Chgogal

.....”[Is] a majority of Texans so stupid as to elect Tippy-Toe Talrico?”

...I had a co-worker years ago who often said “There is no
cure for stupid”.....I have to wonder why recent polls put
this race so close...Paxton should be walking away with
his nomination, but, no....Talafreako seems to be doing
much better than we thought he would....I have to wonder
if this freak will pull it off.....jus’ sayin’ .....


16 posted on 08/08/2026 5:13:58 AM PDT by TokarevM57 ( )
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To: TokarevM57

For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine,
but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers
to suit their own desires.

2 Timothy 4:3


17 posted on 08/08/2026 5:50:01 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: princess leah

“Trump war chest needs to open up its coffers to Ken Paxton!”

He’ll show up in Texas a few days before the election, after 60% of the state has already voted.


18 posted on 08/08/2026 6:56:38 AM PDT by BobL (Trusting one's doctor is the #1 health mistake one can make.)
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To: SaveFerris
I had NO IDEA who James Talarico even is until P.J. Comix mentioned him on a thread...

As the Bible Cherry Picker?

19 posted on 08/08/2026 8:11:31 AM PDT by PJ-Comix (Presenting Voter ID to CA Election Officials is Like Waving a Cross in Front of a Vampire)
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To: BobL

To be eligible to vote early by mail in Texas, you must:
be 65 years or older;
be sick or disabled;
be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance; or
be expected to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day; or
be confined in jail, but otherwise eligible.


20 posted on 08/08/2026 8:34:14 AM PDT by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Re-imagine the media!)
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