Texas Republican Breaks With His Party: ‘I’ll Never Vote for Ken Paxton’

A former Republican state lawmaker in Texas is publicly breaking with his party’s U.S. Senate nominee, declaring that he will never vote for Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Former Texas state Rep. Glenn Rogers is appearing in a new political advertisement supporting Democrat James Talarico, delivering an unusually direct rebuke of Paxton from inside Republican ranks.

Rogers, a Republican who previously represented a rural North Texas district, was among the Texas House members who voted to impeach Paxton in 2023.

Now he is taking his opposition into the general election.

“Character is more important than party,” Rogers says in the ad, before declaring that he cannot trust Paxton and will not vote for or support him.

The advertisement was produced by Lone Star Rising, a political group supporting Talarico, the Democratic nominee challenging Paxton for the U.S. Senate seat.

Rogers’ appearance gives Democrats something particularly valuable in a statewide race: criticism of Paxton coming not from another Democrat, but from a Republican who once served alongside many of the officials now supporting him.

The dispute traces back in part to Paxton’s 2023 impeachment.

The Republican-controlled Texas House voted to impeach the attorney general on allegations that included abuse of office and misuse of his position. Paxton denied wrongdoing and was later acquitted by the Texas Senate, allowing him to remain attorney general.

The political fallout, however, did not end with his acquittal.

Several Republicans who supported impeachment subsequently faced primary challenges. Rogers lost his 2024 Republican primary to Mitch Little, one of the attorneys who had helped defend Paxton during the impeachment proceedings.

Paxton has since moved onto an even larger political stage.

After defeating incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican Senate nomination in May 2026, Paxton became the GOP candidate facing Talarico in November.

But Republican unity behind him has not been complete.

Recent reporting has documented some longtime Republican voters wrestling with whether they can support Paxton. Some have said they will ultimately vote for him because of policy differences with Democrats, while others have discussed leaving the Senate race blank or supporting another candidate.

That makes Rogers’ advertisement more significant than a routine campaign attack.

It highlights a question facing Republicans who remain uncomfortable with Paxton but disagree politically with Talarico: whether party loyalty outweighs their objections to the Republican nominee.

Rogers has made his answer clear.

For him, it does not.