Brit Hume Pinpoints What Could Give Texas Senate Seat To Democrats

Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Wednesday that Republicans could hand Democrats an opening in Texas if the GOP nominates a controversial candidate.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton emerged as the frontrunner in the three-way GOP Senate primary, outpacing longtime incumbent Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn. During a discussion on “Special Report,” Hume said Paxton’s political baggage could give Democrats ammunition in a statewide race.

“I think that he [Paxton] is a controversial figure. He’s been both indicted and impeached on separate issues,” Hume said. “And while he’s survived both of those things, his background might be fertile territory for Democrats trying to beat him if he was a general election candidate, so that’s a race to really watch.”

Host Bret Baier noted that Democrats have long sought to flip Texas blue. Hume said Democrats’ hopes could hinge on who emerges from the Republican primary.

“The Attorney General Paxton — and there you see Wesley Hunt as well in that race. Democrats do have this aspiration, and they have, for some time, to turn Texas blue,” Baier said.

“Well, if Talarico wins, he’s a very articulate young man,” Hume said. “A talented young man. He is a fairly promising candidate, and Democrats have dreamed, as you say, Bret, that they can somehow turn the state of Texas blue. It could happen, I suppose.”

Hume said Cornyn would likely stand as the strongest Republican in a general election, but he added that Cornyn has trailed in primary polling for some time.

“The Republicans do have some issues here because John Cornyn, the incumbent, would, you know, it’s fair to argue, I think, that he would be the strongest general election candidate. But at the moment he is trailing in the polls and has been for some time. And the leading guy, leading the polls, Ken Paxton, is adored by a lot of Trump supporters and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party,” Hume said.

In 2023, Texas legislators accused Paxton of years-long alleged misconduct, including using his office to help a campaign donor inappropriately, which helped trigger his impeachment in 2023. The Texas House of Representatives filed 20 articles of impeachment alleging bribery, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice against Paxton before he was acquitted by the state Senate later that year.

A federal investigation into whether Paxton abused his office in connection with those allegations ended when the Justice Department declined to prosecute him in the final weeks of the Biden administration.