Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took the stage Wednesday at the Republican National Committee’s first midterm convention in Dallas and delivered a raw, personal, America First pitch that mixed his working-class upbringing, a tax-relief plan for families, and a full-throated takedown of radical Democrat James Talarico.
The crowd at American Airlines Center heard a fighter who has spent years taking on the Biden-Harris machine in court and now wants to send President Trump reinforcements in the Senate.
Paxton opened by thanking Paul Perez and the National Border Council, the RNC, and President Trump.
“The press, the courts, and the establishment all tried to take President Trump down, but he’s won every single time,” Paxton said.
“He’s delivered more for this country than anyone before, secured victories for America that no other president could, and always stood up for Texas.”
He then told his own story. His father was an Air Force veteran who flew B-52s. The family lived in a white trailer with no air conditioning outside an Air Force base. “We didn’t have much,” Paxton said.
“But I learned more about service to my country in that trailer than I did in any classroom. And that’s why this is so personal to me.”
Everywhere he goes, Paxton said, he meets Texans working harder than ever who still worry they will never get ahead. Those are the people he says he is fighting for.
Paxton laid out his affordability agenda, first unveiled earlier this summer. He said every Texan should be able to buy a home, raise a family, and live a healthy life.
The plan includes:
- A landmark $50,000 down-payment tax deduction to help families own a home
- A $25,000 tax deduction for medical expenses so “no family should go bankrupt just for getting sick”
- A healthy-living tax deduction covering gym memberships, nutrition plans, and doctor-prescribed GLP-1s
- Doubling the child tax credit and making Trump accounts permanent
“I’m standing up for Texans like I’ve done my entire career,” Paxton said. “When the corrupt Biden administration came for us, I took them to court 107 times. And I won. Even CNN admitted that Texas was a legal graveyard for Biden policies. That’s why President Trump said I was the most effective Attorney General in the country.”
Paxton then shifted his focus directly to Talarico.
He called Talarico a “Democratic socialist who never met a tax increase he didn’t love,” saying the Austin Democrat voted to tax income in Texas, wants to tax tips, overtime, and Social Security. “California already has two senators. It doesn’t need a third. But that’s exactly what James Talarico would be.”
The attacks on Talarico’s theology and gender views were the sharpest part of the speech. “He calls himself a Christian who hates Christianity, said God is non-binary. I must have missed that verse in the Bible. And of course, he claimed there were six genders, which is absolutely crazy.”
“This guy is really obsessed with transitions,” Paxton continued. “He wants to transition your kids. He wants to transition Texas off of oil and gas. How about we transition him and his crazy ideas right out of Texas?”
Paxton framed the Texas Senate race as national. “If we lose Texas, we lose the Common Sense Revolution. If we lose the Common Sense Revolution, we lose America. But together, we can send President Trump reinforcements in the Senate and change Washington. We can restore the American dream across this country.”
President Trump has already promised “big, beautiful rallies” for Paxton and used his own convention remarks to urge Texans to elect him.
The two men have been aligned for years. Paxton sued over the 2020 election, fought Biden policies in court more than 100 times, and earned Trump’s endorsement in the primary over RINO John Cornyn.
WATCH:
Senate Candidate Ken Paxton Shares His Story and Makes Case for Senate Seat – 09/09/26 pic.twitter.com/j0GjMcOVrx
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) September 9, 2026
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