Ken Paxton Privately Admits GOP Candidates' Numbers 'Dropped' Due To Trump's Midterm Convention In Leaked Audio

Texas attorney general and U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton privately admitted in a newly-leaked audio clip that "everybody's numbers dropped" after the Republican midterm convention where President Donald Trump appeared last month.

Trump spoke for nearly two hours that night, with his address airing live on Fox News as well as the Nielsen-rated cable networks Newsmax and NewsNation. Trump promised a "Trump dividend" of $5000 to every adult if Republicans win both chambers of Congress, asked his supporters to do him “the biggest favor” and “pretend” they are voting for him in November.

At one point, he led attendees in what was described as "an improvised pledge of allegiance to himself" and encouraged them to "cheat like hell" to keep him in office.

The event was also sparsely attended, not that that stopped Trump from claiming the convention "beat the NFL" in viewership, referring to the 2025-26 season kickoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

Now, an audio recording obtained by the New York Times shows that Paxton told a group of conservative donors and lobbyists last week that the convention and Trump's presence ultimately undermined his Senate campaign. Paxton is running against Democrat James Talarico, who has seen a boost in the polls.

An unidentified person at the private fundraiser held in Washington, D.C. asks Paxton:

“Do you feel like he’s [Trump] a little bit of a drag?”

Paxton responds:

“So to be honest with you, the numbers—when we did that convention—it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”

You can hear the audio below.

The audio was damning—and critics agreed it doesn't bode well for Trump and certainly not for Paxton's campaign.

Nick Maddux, a senior adviser for Paxton’s campaign, pushed back against the New York Times' reporting, alleging the story "is more manipulated nonsense from the New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist.”

Meanwhile, a Big Data Poll survey gives Talarico a four-point lead over Paxton. Among respondents, 43.6% said they would vote for Talarico if the election were held that day, compared with 39.3% who said they would support Paxton. Another 5.2% said they would choose a Libertarian candidate, while 11.9% remained undecided.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report currently classifies the Texas Senate race as a “toss-up.” As of Monday afternoon, Decision Desk HQ’s polling average showed Talarico leading Paxton 47.4% to 43.5%.