Texas Trump voters rage against Ken Paxton in new focus group: 'Amoral' and 'disgusting'

The New York Times published the results of a new interview with a dozen Texas voters who backed President Donald Trump in 2024, and are now either considering or committed to voting for Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.

Near universally, the group, which consisisted of six Republicans, two Democrats, and four independents, had nothing kind to say about the Republican nominee, Attorney General Ken Paxton.

When asked a single word that comes to mind, the group used words like "crook," "amoral," "disgusting," and "corrupt" — including many of the Republicans in the group

Paxton, a MAGA firebrand who has gone to bat for far-right policies from abortion bans to attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has faced controversy after controversy and an avalanche of scandals, from an impeachment trial over allegations he took bribes from an Austin developer, to retaliation against whistleblowers in his office, to revelations of marital infidelity that caused a public divorce.

Robert, one of the independents, said he views Paxton as a "crook" because "Just a lot of things that he’s done with his power as attorney general. There are criminals that he’s let off the hook, so to speak. It’s just a lot of different things like that."

By contrast, when the voters were asked about Talarico, a state representative, teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian, the one-word descriptions were mixed but largely more positive, with many using words like "fresh," "young," and "inspiring" — though one Republican, Jennifer, said he associates him with "same-sex bathrooms in high schools," and one independent called him "ineffective."

Focus groups are small samples of voters and do not have the same predictive power as polls; however, they are often useful for a gauge of the sorts of messaging that might work for each party on undecided or leaning voters.