GOP Lawyer Pushes for Party to Fake Unity
in Latest Sign of Senate Race Desperation
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Capitol Inside
August 12, 2026
U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton gave critics an opportunity to portray him as hapless beggar on social media last week when he issued an urgent plea for fundraising help in a national television interview that went viral the moment it ended. But the Republicans in Texas appeared to be more desperate than Paxton himself when the state GOP's top lawyer proposed to have the party require its elected officials and candidates to endorse the Senate nominee and to actively support his campaign if they haven't already.
The state party's general counsel Rachel Hooper pitched a resolution to the Harris County GOP executive committee on Monday in an attempt to pressure Republicans who've refused to rally behind the attorney general in the Senate race to do so immediately. Hooper had been identified as the GOP's former attorney in some posts on social media. But the Republican Party of Texas web site still listed Hooper as the general counsel on Wednesday afternoon.
Hooper demonstrated how bitterly divided the GOP is ahead of the 2026 midterm election with the proposal that would demand that the Republican candidates on the upcoming midterm ballot in the largest Texas county to make it appear like they're supporting Paxton without regard for their true feelings on the Senate race.
Harris County's elected GOP leaders and the party's nominees would be expected under the terms of the Hooper motion to issue a "clear public statement of endorsement" to the state AG for the Senate race along with "visible campaigning or promotion of Paxton's candidacy" and their cooperation with the party's efforts on his behalf.
According to the resolution, the "failure by any Republican elected official or candidate in Harris County to publicly endorse and support the Party's Senate nominee undermines Party unity and weakens the collective effort to elect conservatives." The Texas GOP attorney's proposal says its designed to "strengthen Party cohesion, energize the base and maximize Republican turnout in 2026."
The Harris County party organization's executive committee did not take the Hooper resolution at the meeting this week. The odds for its eventual adoption could be slim as an attempt to force Republicans who do not support Paxton for the Senate to pretend that they do in a move aimed at deceiving prospective voters.
Paxton's appeal for campaign cash that he's found tough to raise on his own - coupled with the arm-twisting tactics that the state party officer unveiled in Harris County - make it appear like the Republicans are more afraid of losing the Texas Senate seat than they've been at any point until now.
The Republicans have ample cause for growing despair about Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico - an Austin state representative who lead Paxton in all of six polls that were conducted here in July. Talarico led the third-term attorney general by 3.3 points on average in the polling here last month. Paxton backers have disputed the accuracy of the polling when it's shown the Democrat in front in a state where his party hasn't won a U.S. Senate race since 1988.
While the Texas fight is way too close to call with any certainty, Paxton and the Republicans are acting like the Senate seat is starting to slip away from them - with Talarico as the favorite this week for the first time on the major prediction and legal betting platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Nate Silver, the most prominent election forecaster in the country, moved the Texas Senate race to leans Democrat on Tuesday for the first time with Talarico's odds of winning listed at 63 percent.
Capitol Inside moved the U.S. Senate race in Texas to leans Democrat during the weekend. Pleading for money and faking the appearance of unity are signs that Republicans here are starting to lose hope after choosing Paxton in a primary runoff election to carry the torch for them in the battle with Talarico.
Veteran U.S. Senator John Cornyn, who Paxton unseated in the overtime vote with a late endorsement from President Donald Trump, would have expected to fun as the favorite before his ousting in a primary runoff election by the AG in May. Now the lameduck incumbent finds himself in position to say I told you so after warning GOP voters here repeatedly they'd be handing the Senate seat to Talarico and the Democrats if they picked Paxton over him in the runoff.
more to come ...
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