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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said President Donald Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas hurt his standing in the Texas Senate race, according to a report by The New York Times.
In a Sept. 30 report, the Times said it obtained an audio recording of Paxton speaking to conservative donors and lobbyists at a private fundraiser in Washington on Sept. 24. In the muffled recording, someone asks, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?”
It’s unclear who the person was asking about, the Times reported.
Paxton, who was endorsed by Trump, responds: “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”
The Paxton campaign responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment with a statement from Nick Maddux, a senior adviser to Paxton:
“This is more manipulated nonsense from the New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist. Our latest poll from last week has Ken Paxton leading by three points, and every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September. Ken Paxton is going to win this race, and he looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump, including when he comes to Texas this week.”
Meanwhile, Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Ryan Martin said in a statement to USA TODAY that Paxton is “loyal to nobody but himself.”
“With D.C. lobbyists behind closed doors, Paxton trashed Trump and said he is dragging him down,” Martin said in teh statement. “This is embarrassing for the president. Texans know that Paxton is a cheater who only serves his own corrupt self-interests, and now Trump gets to experience it firsthand.”
Trump worked to rally his loyal base on Sept. 9-10 during a first-ever Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, attempting a rescue mission to energize his party and stop a Democratic takeover of Congress.
Paxton is facing Democratic challenger James Talarico in a close race, according to several recent polls. A recent Big Data Poll, conducted Sept. 24-26, found Talarico leading Paxton among registered Texas voters, 43.6% to 39.3%. Among likely voters, Talarico led 44.6% to 41.6%.
Talarico vs. Paxton polls
Here’s what September polls have shown so far:
USA TODAY reporter Phillip Bailey contributed to this story.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on X, natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma on Facebook.