Paxton Admits GOP Poll Numbers Dropped Post-Convention

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, has acknowledged that the Republican party's polling numbers experienced a decline after the recent midterm convention held in Dallas. According to audio obtained by The New York Times, Paxton stated to a group of conservative donors and lobbyists last week, "To be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention, it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped." He added, "Right now, yeah, not good."

Paxton is currently engaged in a competitive race against State Representative James Talarico. RealClearPolitics polling data indicates Talarico holds a narrow lead over Paxton by 2.9 percentage points. If successful, Talarico would be the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988.

A campaign advisor for Paxton, Nick Maddux, contested the report, calling it "manipulated nonsense" from The New York Times. Maddux asserted that a recent poll from the past week shows Paxton leading by three points and that "every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September." He expressed confidence that Paxton "is going to win this race" and will "close strong alongside President Trump, including when he comes to Texas this week."

President Trump is scheduled to visit a Peterbil Motors facility in Denton, Texas, on Thursday as part of an effort to support Republican candidates in their bid to maintain control of the House and Senate.