Ken Paxton’s estranged wife urged Texans to vote for him. But she didn’t mention his name: ‘It’s about getting the whole team across the finish line’

A new television ad from Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton asks voters to stay with Republicans on Nov. 3, but it never says the name of the man at the top of that ticket. That man is her estranged husband, Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

The spot, which began airing Saturday, has Angela Paxton telling Texans she is “voting for the Republican ticket on Nov. 3.” She also tells them to “talk about the elephant in the room.” NBC News pointed out that she filed for divorce from Ken Paxton last year and cited “biblical grounds.”

She frames the choice as a team effort rather than a vote for one candidate. “In a general election, it’s not as much about the individual players on the team; it’s about getting the whole team across the finish line,” she said in the ad. “Either we hold every Republican seat, or we hand the future of Texas to the other team.”

Party groups and relatives step in as polling shows a narrow gap

The timing lines up with a race that public surveys still treat as close. In a late-September poll from NBC5 Dallas and the Telemundo Station Group, Democrat James Talarico stood at 46% and Ken Paxton at 43%. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points, and 8% of potential voters said they had not decided. NBC News lists the contest as a toss-up.

That margin sits inside a state where Republicans have not lost a statewide election since 1994. Democrats last won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas in 1988. Angela Paxton’s office did not immediately answer when asked whether she herself plans to vote for her estranged husband.

Ken Paxton’s years as attorney general have included allegations of abuse of office and bribery. Paxton’s political standing has been shaped by controversy, as he privately said the GOP convention hurt his Senate race, dropping his numbers. In 2023 the Republican-led Texas House impeached him. The state Senate later acquitted him. During that trial, senators also heard allegations of infidelity. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing.

A different family member has been more direct on camera. Daughter Mattie Hayworth appeared recently in an ad for her father, with her husband and children beside her. While she criticized “liberal politicians,” a graphic placed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., next to Talarico. “When they come after you, my dad goes after them to bring down prices and stand up for families,” Hayworth said.

Money from outside the campaign is already moving. The Angela Paxton ad was paid for by Texas PAC, a committee tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The Senate race in Texas is among the most expensive of this cycle.

President Donald Trump backed Paxton over sitting Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary and has kept asking voters to support the attorney general. Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., has put millions of dollars into the race. He was in Texas twice in the past month, first at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas and then at a rally in Denton this week, stops on a 17-state campaign swing.

He returned to the subject Friday night at a campaign event in Alabama. “Last night, I went to Texas, where we won by a lot, and then I went to Oklahoma, and they said, ‘Why is he going to Texas?’ Because we have to win that race. Ken Paxton has to win,” Trump said. Paxton’s race has drawn national attention, as when James Talarico called Ken Paxton to challenge him to a debate, and the call went straight to voicemail.