Ken Paxton, by all rights, should attend a four-person candidate debate Thursday, answering questions from the three Republicans who are challenging him in the March 1 GOP primary for Texas attorney general.
Except for this little item: The AG is under felony indictment in Collin County for securities fraud. There’s that and the FBI investigation into allegations of corruption in his office. There’s also the dipsh** lawsuit he filed in 2021 seeking to get four states that voted for Joe Biden for POTUS to overturn their results and give their electoral votes to Donald Trump; the U.S. Supreme Court tossed that lawsuit out.
So, you see, Paxton won’t attend the debate. He’ll cede the floor to challengers George P. Bush, Eva Guzman and Louie Gohmert, all of whom are making Paxton’s ethical (mis)conduct a major part of their efforts to defeat the AG.
Because the Texas Republican Party electorate comprises voters who don’t give a rat’s rear end about ethics and moral standing, Paxton somehow enjoys standing as the front runner in the primary campaign. One of the three challengers wants to face off against him in a runoff if no one gets 50% of the vote in the primary. I have no favorite among the three people running against Paxton. I merely want the attorney general to lose the primary contest, whether it’s March 1 or in the runoff.
As for his absence from the debate, a candidate with a semblance of courage and a stern belief that his conduct is defensible would show up and take on the challengers. The incumbent, however, is showing a cowardly streak that should not be tolerated.