Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Texas’ closely watched Senate race, Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton is running despite an avalanche of scandals, including the fact that Texas’ Republican-led state House impeached him over alleged bribery, abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
The good news for Paxton is the Republican-led state Senate ultimately acquitted him. The bad news for Paxton is Dan Cogdell, a Houston-based defense lawyer who represented the Texas attorney general in both the impeachment trial and a long-running securities fraud case, told NOTUS in a statement that his former client “has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas.”
Making matters worse, Paxton’s former defense lawyer, after getting to know Paxton and reviewing the evidence against him, endorsed his opponent, James Talarico, and contributed to the Democratic state lawmaker’s 2026 campaign.
* Graham Platner’s Democratic Senate campaign in Maine has confronted a series of damaging allegations — and this week, he’ll face voters for the first time in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. Technically, Gov. Janet Mills will be on the ballot despite the incumbent suspending her candidacy in late April, and there’s growing interest in whether Platner’s local Democratic detractors will turn out to register a protest vote against him.