There’s also Paxton’s reputation for jet-setting: In his 11 years as attorney general, an Associated Press investigation found, Paxton spent an extraordinary amount of time traveling to plush locales including “California wine country, Caribbean resorts and European tourism hot spots.” It cost the taxpayers at least $1.9 million to cover the expenses of his security detail. And of course, there was the 2013 surveillance video that caught Paxton pocketing a man’s $1,000 Montblanc pen. (His campaign called the incident a “mix-up,” and Paxton returned the pen after he was contacted by a sheriff’s deputy.)
Even some of the ads supporting him carry a bit of a shrug. Angela Paxton, who is suing her husband for divorce on “biblical grounds,” which is King James for cheating, appears in a spot urging Texans to vote Republican down the ticket. “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room,” she says at the start of the ad, which ends without any further mention of the elephant.
For many in the Republican establishment, these indiscretions have pushed Paxton beyond the pale, but that’s little concern to the nominee’s supporters. “He may not have his life together,” said Janet, a Paxton backer from Corpus Christi, “but he’s better than the alternative.”
Kevin, a 62-year-old from the San Antonio suburbs, brought his wife to see Paxton speak in Selma. “I believe in this country there is a battle between good and evil,” he said. “I try to judge characters in a biblical sense.” Where does that leave Paxton, a man accused of violating quite a few of the Commandments? “I’m okay with Ken Paxton,” Kevin said, waving a hand as I ran down the list of transgressions. “I believe Trump is the best president we’ve ever had. And we got to have people in there to support him.”
