|
Talarico on Monday drew attention to his campaign winning the
endorsement of Houston attorney Dan Cogdell, who was part of
Paxton's defense team during the Republican's historic
impeachment trial in 2023 that ended in acquittal.
The legal troubles that shadowed Paxton in public office in
Texas are a central attack line of Talarico's campaign, though
in his endorsement, Cogdell didn’t cite concerns about his
client's past.
Cogdell said he didn’t dislike Paxton as a person and felt that
Texas lawmakers were right to eventually acquit the attorney
general. But as a politician, Cogdell said, Paxton is too
focused on appeasing President Donald Trump.
“I worked my ass off for the man for nine years,” Cogdell said
in an interview with The Associated Press. “But that’s a
different inquiry. My obligation to Ken ended at the courthouse
steps and my obligation as a citizen is to do what I think is
the right thing.”
Cogdell said Texas needs a lot of work, pointing to education
and health care, “and to simply bootlick or rubber stamp Trump,
that’s not what we need in D.C. right now.” He also recently
spoke to Talarico at length on Cogdell's podcast.
Asked for comment, an aide to Paxton’s campaign said Cogdell is
a Democrat and called the endorsement unsurprising.
The lead defense attorney in Paxton's impeachment trial, Tony
Buzbee, reiterated that on X. Buzbee added that he was
supporting Paxton in the race.
Cogdell described himself as a registered Democrat, although
voters in Texas do not register by political party. He added,
however, that he considers himself a moderate who has given more
campaign contributions over the years to Republican candidates
than Democrats.
Talarico has given Democrats hope of flipping the statewide seat
in Texas blue as the party scrambles to retake control of the
U.S. Senate in November.
Paxton’s insurgent campaign beat Sen. John Cornyn in the
Republican Senate primary runoff last month, helped by a Trump
endorsement in the final days of the race.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
