“Paxton, You Take Bribes!”: The Heckle Ken Paxton Ignored Three Days Before He Lost to James Talarico
by Sari Moon · Thought CatalogBy Sari Moon
Updated 1 minute ago, November 4, 2026
Ken Paxton kept speaking after a heckler accused him of taking bribes at an October 31 campaign rally in Fort Worth. The Texas attorney general had been urging supporters to explain how he differed from Democratic U.S. Senate rival James Talarico when someone shouted, “Paxton, you take bribes!”
Paxton continued his volunteer pitch at Cullen Yards without addressing the accusation: “If everybody in this room does that, we will keep Texas.”
The rally took place 3 days before the November 3 election. Talarico won the Senate race, and Paxton conceded.
The accusation echoed the allegations behind his 2023 impeachment. On May 27 that year, the Republican-led Texas House voted 121–23 to impeach Paxton on 20 articles, including 2 alleging constitutional bribery.
House managers accused him of using his office to benefit donor and Austin developer Nate Paul, who was under federal investigation. They alleged that Paul paid for renovations to Paxton’s Austin home and employed a woman with whom Paxton was having an affair.
Paxton’s defense said the Paxtons paid for the renovations themselves, and he dismissed the impeachment as a sham.
The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton on all 16 articles it tried on September 16, 2023. The remaining 4 were dismissed. He hasn’t been convicted of bribery.
Talarico made those allegations part of his campaign’s argument about living costs, saying, “We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis.” His campaign uploaded the heckling clip to YouTube the day after the rally.
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