“The Elephant in the Room” was the topic of the September 18 Texas Federation of Republican Women meeting, where over 100 Federation board members were in attendance. Who was that "elephant," pray tell? None other than District 8 State Senator Angela Paxton, the ex-wife of Texas Attorney General and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Ken Paxton.

If anyone has an axe to grind, it would be the alleged wronged party in a very public and equally contentious divorce. But State Sen. Paxton chose to use her platform and her past to urge the Texas GOP female leaders to "vote the ticket."

State Sen. Paxton said:

"It's not the people, it's the seat. Because we have more control over that seat and the future, when we control the seat. When it's still in the family, even if we're mad at 'em." 

[Chuckles from the crowd]

"But if we lose it to the other team, the nuances that we want to fix with maybe a certain candidate are nothing compared to what it's going to take to get it back.

"Right?

"So, these are some of the things I've heard people say, maybe you've heard some people say this, maybe you've said it to yourself. 

"'Well, I vote for the person, not the party.' So, just my personal opinion, my response to that would be: When you vote for the person, the party comes along with it. I guarantee you, when a Republican breaks ranks, there are repercussions to that. And when a Democrat breaks ranks, there are repercussions to that too. The party comes with the person."

Here is that portion of the speech posted by State Republican Executive Committee member Cheryl Thompson-Draper and the DeWitt County GOP.

WATCH:

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The butthurt Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the "principled" GOP-E hack Karl Rove, and even former President George W. Bush need to hear this speech and perhaps do some course correction. Instead, Cornyn appears to be actively working to undermine Paxton's candidacy, Rove proudly declared he is voting for a Democrat in a pivotal state race, and Bush is fundraising for everyone but Paxton.

From reports and court records, the Paxton v. Paxton divorce proceedings were contentious from the get-go. State Sen. Paxton chose to file for divorce in 2025, three months after AG Paxton announced his run for U.S. Senate. That comes off as adversarial, if not undermining. 

But after her ex became a contender in his race against Cornyn, and then the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat, it appears State Sen. Paxton chose to keep her powder dry. A feather those aforementioned principled GOP-E "leaders" need to pull from Paxton's cap and put to better use. It may well be too late for them, but State Sen. Paxton's speech provided a clear directive for other Texas party leaders and Texas constituents who were either on the fence, planned to sit it out, or, God forbid, contemplated voting for Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.   

Sen. Paxton has remained quiet about her divorce and the Senate race this year. She issued a series of Republican runoff endorsements in statewide primary races, including the attorney general, railroad commissioner and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals contests, but did not indicate who she was backing between her estranged husband and Cornyn.

Despite the fact that State Sen. Paxton did not appear to name her ex-husband in her speech, this works as a backdoor endorsement for Paxton's Senate run. 

We'll see whether it moves the needle in GOP Senate candidate Paxton's favor.

Editor's Note: The headline of this article was updated to clarify that Angela Paxton is Ken Paxton's ex-wife.