DALLAS — Pressure is intensifying to sway public opinion on suspended-Attorney General Ken Paxton. While television ads and social media posts are pushed out, it is notable that much of the pressure mounts on Texas senators.
Senators who will act as jurors in the impeachment trial of the attorney general are being lobbied and targeted by political groups.
“Anyone that votes against Ken Paxton in this impeachment is risking their entire political career and we will make sure that is the case,” Jonathan Stickland, president of the pro-Paxton Defend Texas Liberty PAC, said recent in a media appearance.
Echoing similar statements is director of the same PAC, Luke Macias, who spoke with WFAA this week.
“I think republican politicians who decide to vote with the democrats are going to be seen as such,” Macias said.
Paxton, a Republican, is in his third term as attorney general. Macias said voters have kept Paxton in office because they like the job he is doing and, a representatives, it is a senators’ job to listen to their constituents.
“We’re having conversations with Texans all across the state, millions of republican voters, who are then in turn reaching out to their senators and telling them: ‘hey, I voted for you and I voted to Ken Paxton. I would like both of you to remain in office. Please respect that decision,” Macias said.
The trial of Texas’ top legal official is scheduled to start Tuesday, September 5. It comes after the Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to impeach Paxton in May.
Paxton is accused of yearslong patterns of misconduct and lawbreaking. Much of the accusations are centered on his relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real-estate investor and Paxton campaign donor. Paxton was immediately suspended from office and the trial will determine whether he will be permanently removed.
His fate lies in the hands of the 30 senators who can vote in the trial. His wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, is recused. Removal requires a two-thirds vote. This means, if all 12 Democrats vote to convict Paxton, nine of the 18 remaining Republicans would have to also vote in favor of Paxton’s removal from office to force him out.
While Defend Texas Liberty and other pro-Paxton PACs want senators to vote against Paxton’s impeachment, Chair of the Travis County Republican Party says Texas GOP lawmakers are being pushed to do the opposite.
“Right now I think senators are under more pressure to impeach than they are not to impeach,” said Matt Mackowiack.
Mackowiack said it is likely we will know what senators are thinking regarding Paxton’s fate early on in the trial.
“There’s a handful of senators, I think, that are more interesting to watch given their positions, given their relationships, given what they may want to do in the future politically,” Mackowiack said.
Both Macias and Mackowiack agree: constituents – supporters and opposers of Paxton – will be watching their representatives closely.