Paxton Deploys $10 Million AI Smear Campaign Against Talarico as 20 Impeachment Charges Shadow Senate Run
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 30
Paxton Deploys $10 Million AI Smear Campaign Against Talarico as 20 Impeachment Charges Shadow Senate Run
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 30
Summary
$10 million in pro-Paxton spending has backed deepfake AI ads portraying Democrat James Talarico as promoting gender transition for children, while Paxton has amplified fake and distorted attacks in his Senate campaign.
Those smears target a vulnerability Paxton does not actually share with Talarico’s stated positions: the Democrat opposes transgender surgery for minors and trans athletes competing in women’s sports.
Paxton’s culture-war offensive comes as his own record still includes 20 impeachment articles adopted in 2023 over alleged bribery tied to donor Nate Paul, though the Texas Senate later acquitted him 16-14.
Nate Paul separately took a plea deal in 2025 that included four months of home confinement and a $1 million fine, while Paxton had already resolved a 2015 securities-fraud case with restitution and community service.
The report casts the race as a broader test of Texas Christian nationalist power, arguing Paxton’s long alliance with religious-right donors and activists has repeatedly helped him survive scandal.