The Corner

Who’s Responsible for Texas?

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Left: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, September 9, 2026. Right: U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) speaks to reporters outside of his office, following the postponement of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation vote on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., July 30, 2026.

Brian Snyder, Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Like Yogi said, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” and Leader Thune is in it to win it, but things have long looked grim in the Texas Senate race. “Precriminations” have predictably begun with each faction within the party pointing fingers at the other. Luckily, there’s plenty of blame to go around!

Blame first goes to the nominee who chose to run for the seat despite his myriad deficiencies and then proceeded not to run all that hard on the seeming assumption, “It’s Texas. I’ll be fine.” But you neither expect a five-year-old to balance a checkbook nor a fox to be kind to a hen. People have their native capabilities and characters and you have to take them as you find them. It’s hard to blame Paxton for making poor choices here; he could do no other.

Michael A. Fragoso

About the Author

Michael A. Fragoso

Michael A. Fragoso is a lawyer in Washington, D.C. and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He previously served as chief counsel to Senator Mitch McConnell and chief counsel for judicial nominations and constitutional law on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He clerked for Judge Sykes from 2014 to 2015.

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