Reporter’s Notebook
In a grand display of organization and handling, Ken Paxton’s campaign rolled into town about 90 minutes late, during lunch hour on a Thursday, to occupy the smallest possible Republican safe space that could be found.
San Angelo was fortunate enough to be a part of the “Come and Take It” tour — after a big rally in Lubbock yesterday — the campaign stopped in Odessa in the morning and will head to Abilene after handshaking is done here.
In typical high roller fashion, the Attorney General had to be reminded of what town he last occupied.
— Choice Quote From Ken Paxton —
“This is Day (inaudible) (of the tour), we started last night in Lubbock, and we ended up in Abilene, we were just in…where were we just at?” asked the attorney general.
A handler replied, “Odessa.”
A Private Affair
Though the event was technically open to the public via online ticketing, said public would have been well advised to not attempt entry wearing a “F*** Donald Trump” t-shirt.
As one potential attendee discovered, the Paxton event was functionally a private affair, and he was trespassed by one of the many SAPD officers stationed at the event.
When Paxton’s bus finally rolled in, the main team of a dozen or more security and staff entered the bar and quickly began sniffing around to see who was there to watch Paxton, and who might be there to heckle the attorney general.
There were about 55-60 people in attendance, and security removed two men from the rally. One of whom had yelled out “He won’t debate!” while U.S. Sen. Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming was introducing Paxton.
As members of the small press cadre stood corralled in a tiny box, the press watched the security in front of them texting away on their group chat, where they were close enough to read: “find the guy who said “He won’t debate” now…”
After being identified the man shouted “Pedophile protectors!” while being escorted out.
Probably a reference to the Adam Hoffman case that we’ve all been constantly reminded of during this campaign cycle, but he could also be referring to the larger controversy of the Epstein files.
This led a couple audience members to self-appoint as bouncers, and “help” the protester out of the room along with security and police.
After that, another gentleman was wearing what was some sort of Anti Paxton t-shirt, referencing the candidate’s net worth. Although he was standing silently at the back and watching, security eventually approached him for a talking-to, eventually removing him as well.
While most of the campaign budget seemed focused on security and making sure there weren’t any disruptions, numerous other preparations kept the general public outside past the starting point of the event, forcing them to hang out for another hour before the show began.
And Introducing…
Introductions began with a prayer by Walt Landers of the Life Church in San Angelo, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance with Tom Green County Republican Party Chair Trey Holmes. San Angelo LIVE! publisher and owner of the venue Joe Hyde said a few words, then passed the floor to Kellye Duncan Garrett of the Texas Federation of Republican Women.
Then Tom Green County Pct. 4 Comm. Shawn Nanny stepped up to speak from his heart.
Nanny spoke with the most vigor and enthusiasm of any of the local introductory speakers.
The commissioner has spent much of 2026 speaking out against Beacon Data Centers, a data center developer who is currently in progress of constructing a campus in Tom Green County’s Precinct 4, near Foster Park.
That development now appears to be paused after Gov. Greg Abbott told the TCEQ to halt any progress on their applications.
It is interesting, of course, to note how much money Ken Paxton has taken from private data center concerns.
According to reporting from NBC News affiliate KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s political campaign, leadership PAC and joint fundraising committees along with the Lone Star Liberty PAC, have received at least $448,000 through June from executives and PACs connected to the data center industry.
Perhaps Commissioner Nanny is just concerned with the single potential data center in his district, and therefore the campaign’s gift from data center developments were not concerning to him.
Nanny further illustrated why this race was so important to him.
“Believe it or not, I am not here to talk about data centers and high transmission voltage lines,” he began.
“I’m here to talk about this heated race for the U.S. Senate…this is a battle for overall control of the U.S. Senate. This election will have consequences that reach far beyond this great State of Texas. It will affect the balance of power in Washington D.C. This election will determine if Texas remains the beacon of freedom in America, or if we just hand over the keys to Washington, and the far left.
“Ken Paxton understands our values. He understands that by God, this isn’t California, or New York! This is Texas!
“Let’s make damn sure we have a senator who reflects our values.”
So, after reminding the crowd about where we’re standing, geographically, Nanny invoked the values of Ken Paxton — a topic of intense debate in this election — as the reason he should be elected.
Ken Paxton’s Values
Paxton’s values have become the main talking point of this election, with his opponent and third-party opposition labeling Paxton as “The Most Corrupt Politician in Texas.”
Critics point out that while the state is always looking to “cut back” on extra spending each fiscal year, Paxton has essentially spent money from state coffers to keep himself out of prison, and let Texas foot the bill for his alleged wrongdoing.
One of Paxton’s largest legal scandals involved two first-degree felony charges, which arrived from allegations that Paxton persuaded investors, including a then-GOP state lawmaker, to buy at least $100,000 worth of stock in a tech startup, Servergy, without disclosing that he would be compensated for it, according to The Texas Tribune.
That same case led to an agreement in 2025 that Paxton serve a community service bit and pay restitution totaling $271,000 dollars. But no wrongdoing was admitted by Paxton. As part of his community service, he was reportedly ordered to attend a course on legal ethics.
Then in 2023, after asking the State of Texas to pay a $3.3 Million dollar settlement to former employees in the AG’s office, Paxton’s tenure as attorney general was almost ended by his own party.
A Republican-led investigation found evidence that Paxton sought to cover up an extra-marital affair, misused his office to help a donor, skirted protocols “grossly outside” of norms, and “built a culture of fear and retaliation in his office.”
He was eventually acquitted of the 16 articles of Impeachment against him when his trial was held in the Texas Senate, but scandals have continued to follow Paxton.
From infractions as minor as apparently stealing someone’s fancy pen from the security check of the Collin County Courthouse 10-years prior, to videos of a late night party featuring Paxton on a balcony in the modern-day slave state known as Dubai on New Years 2025, along with fugitives from U.S. justice; to larger problems, like the fact that during his time as Attorney General, Paxton’s travel expenses rose into the millions, with only 1-in-6 trips described as “official business.”
It’s also worth noting that San Angelo’s Texas House Representative, Drew Darby, voted to impeach Paxton. Our state senator, Charles Perry, voted to acquit Paxton on all 16 charges.
If you need more evidence, feel free to search Ken Paxton and actually read the last 10 years of reporting on him.
Are they all lying? Is every single newspaper and watchdog just making this stuff up? Or did his own party try and get rid of him for being an obviously ethically dubious Attorney General?
Are these all lies made up by the fake news media, and the famously left-wing Texas House of Representatives?
It’s clear that the existence of the Little House on the Prairie values Commissioner Nanny believes Ken Paxton represents are cast into serious doubt under the faintest light of scrutiny.
Smoke and Mirrors
The narrative being crafted is one of Ken Paxton as a crusading hero who uses his amazing ability with lawsuits to protect the good people of Texas from accidentally getting Medicaid and some other things.
The rally consisted primarily of Paxton’s planned agenda; a strategy of tax credits he summed up as “keeping more of your own money”
The story presented by Ken Paxton and the Governor, in numerous campaign appearances and press announcements of the year, is kind of a misrepresentation of what the Attorney General really does.
“I made them pay $286 million, Purdue Pharma, and the Sackler family, and more than $3 billion was recovered from that…” Paxton said.
When Ken Paxton sued Perdue Pharmaceuticals, securing $286.5 million dollars for the state, it’s important to note that though that amount of money is very large, Paxton was only one of 40 other state Attorneys General who sued on those grounds, who did so according to Paxton’s own press release in a “bipartisan” manner – over 40 states working together to sue the former pharmaceutical giant.
So we’ve gone from “He singlehandedly pried millions out of the hands of Big Pharma,” to “He and 40 other AGs pried a lot of money out of an obviously crooked industry that took advantage of people and destroyed lives.”
Another case is the Attorney General’s most recent re-upping of his lawsuit again Pfizer, claiming that they misrepresented the efficacy of the COVID vaccine. This was a point that Paxton emphasized quite a bit, and seems to be also a bit of a half truth.
Paxton spoke of the lawsuit as a done deal: “I sued Pfizer for lying about the [COVID] vaccine, and lie they did. They argued that they were 95-percent effective, and guess what? It was less than 1-percent. I consider that a lot.”
Well, the actual story on this Pfizer lawsuit is that the Attorney General maintains that Pfizer lied about this, but a Federal Judge dismissed the case in 2024. The case is still “active on appeal” and no money has been awarded or paid. Texas is currently appealing to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments this September.
What This Election Is *Really* About
Paxton’s “legendary” time as AG makes up the bulk of his campaign pitch. “When they come after Texas, Paxton goes after them!” his slogan reads.
Besides this, Paxton has little to campaign on, other than being the “straight” candidate.
The crowd howled occasionally, describing Paxton’s opponent James Talarico as being some kind of gay, omni-gendered freak of nature.
This obsession manifested throughout the event. I suppose this is one American electoral tradition that will never go away.
It was founding father John Adams, after all, who was accused by pro-Jefferson newspapers at the time of being a “hermaphroditic” creature.
Besides their rural firewall, pure homophobic rhetoric like this is literally all they have to counter against the economic concerns of the campaign, because Ken Paxton is neither charming nor convincing.
He is clearly not the natural politician that other Texas GOP leaders like Greg Abbott are.
Greg Abbott, Charles Perry, and Drew Darby all appear able to speak extemporaneously about their policies and positions.
Even with a teleprompter, Paxton’s jokes are lame and the crowds laughter is forced and angry. His policies are mostly vague sounding tax breaks, which I’m sure won’t be used to disguise more tax relief for the richest in this country.
He makes a very poorly received joke about GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, when describing some sort of tax break that people could receive for purchasing those medicines, he says at one point “not that anyone here uses those…”
Some shocked responses, and a few mutterings with no laughter on that bit.
He went on to make sure to mention how much we’re all in Texas (which is always helpful because I am always forgetting what state I live in), and how much he likes Texas barbecue (a very controversial opinion).
Overall, I can’t really say what the purpose of this event was. It was held during working hours on a Thursday, in a room full of mostly retired registered Republicans. I’m not sure if anyone at the event other than the two gentleman escorted from the room, was really in doubt as a Paxton voter.
It was, as you might expect from a candidate like Ken Paxton, less of a “get out the vote” rally, and more of a feel good rally for Republicans.
As a young voter (not that you care) I didn’t hear one statement which addressed any of the actual concerns most people I know have these days. Gas prices, war, healthcare.
Any time that he has been able to be nailed down on what it is he actually believes, he typically takes the question and turns it around into another screed about how his opponent is “the most liberal guy ever elected in the history of the world,” another Paxton claim I find very hard to believe.
As I learned shortly before the event, standing outside on the porch, though many are saying this election is about gas prices, and money, and an unpopular war, it’s actually about communism versus freedom.
I didn’t see either of those parties on my ballot, but whatever.
