Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, U.S., September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A far-right MAGA activist’s Election Day pitch for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sparked a wave of ridicule Tuesday after she admitted having thousands of dollars riding on his Senate victory — while acknowledging he doesn’t follow the Ten Commandments.
Republican activist Valentine Gomez made the unusual appeal in a video urging Texans to support Paxton.
“I bet thousands of dollars on Ken Paxton to win his Senate race,” Gomez said. “So I need you all to go out and vote for him because I don’t want to lose my money.”
“He’s not a perfect human being, and I know he doesn’t follow the Ten Commandments, but at least he put them in our classrooms,” she continued.
The less-than-enthusiastic endorsement quickly became a target of mockery.
“This has got to be the greatest self-own political ad of all time,” wrote Napp Nazworth, executive director of the American Values Coalition.
“What a closing message,” progressive commentator Keith Edwards posted on X, while Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist and podcaster, suggested the endorsement might do Paxton more harm than good.
“Pretty much the kiss of death of Ken Paxton,” he wrote in a social media post.
Journalist Andrew Egger took aim at Gomez’s religious reasoning.
“Yes, this is the main thing about the Ten Commandments: God doesn't really care if you keep them, so long as you hang them on a nearby wall,” he wrote on social media.
Historian John Fea also weighed in, telling his followers on X: “Yeah--that pretty sums up conservative evangelicals and the last ten years.”
Policy professor Adam Cochran offered his own sarcastic response.
“Ah yes God's most famous quote after all was: "Do not follow my commandments, simply pay to hang them upon thy wall!"
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