{"id":250,"date":"2026-06-08T10:10:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T10:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250"},"modified":"2026-06-08T10:10:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T10:10:25","slug":"ken-paxtons-impeachment-defense-lawyer-endorses-james-talarico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250","title":{"rendered":"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

A Texas lawyer who helped lead Republican Ken Paxton\u2019s defense during his 2023 impeachment trial is endorsing Democrat James Talarico <\/span>in the state\u2019s critical Senate race this November.<\/p>\n

Read more Kenyan McDuffie on Youth Curfews, Trump and D.C.\u2019s Economy<\/a><\/p>\n

Dan Cogdell, a Houston-based defense lawyer who represented the Texas attorney general in both the impeachment trial and a long-running securities fraud case, told NOTUS in a statement that his former client \u201chas lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd unlike Ken, I believe to my core that James Talarico believes in unity over division and that he knows how to assemble not only Democrats, but Independents and Republicans, and we need that right now,\u201d Cogdell said.<\/p>\n

Cogdell has donated a total of $6,500 to Paxton\u2019s campaign last year and then gave $1,000 to Talarico\u2019s campaign in March, according to campaign finance reports<\/u><\/span>. His endorsement of Talarico comes just after the third anniversary of Paxton\u2019s impeachment<\/u><\/span> by the Texas House of Representatives over allegations including bribery.<\/p>\n

The Paxton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Despite representing one of President Donald Trump\u2019s most prominent political allies, Cogdell has broken with his party and criticized the president publicly in recent years. The longtime Paxton confidant last year called Trump<\/u><\/span> the \u201cgreatest threat to Democracy our country\u2019s ever seen.\u201d Cogdell\u2019s comments were used in a now-deleted attack ad against Paxton released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee in September. The ad called Cogdell \u201ca liberal Trump-hating trial lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Fund While It Lasted<\/a><\/p>\n

Now Senate Republican leaders have fallen in line<\/u><\/span> with Paxton after he defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a primary runoff last month. The Paxton-Cornyn clash split the GOP, with Republican leaders backing Cornyn and Trump allies supporting Paxton. Trump ultimately endorsed Paxton<\/u><\/span> a week before the runoff.<\/p>\n

Talarico, the 37-year-old state lawmaker who has impressed Democrats in Washington with his campaign and fundraising prowess, welcomed the Cogdell endorsement, and appealed directly to GOP voters who may not be willing to support Paxton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you voted for John Cornyn, you have a place in this campaign,\u201d Talarico said in a statement. \u201cIf you\u2019re a Republican tired of the corruption you\u2019re seeing in government, you have a place in this campaign. Even if you\u2019re Ken Paxton\u2019s impeachment lawyer, you have a place in this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the GOP primary, Cornyn allies stressed that Paxton was probably a riskier candidate to run against the Democratic nominee in the general election, given his history of criminal charges and personal controversies. They argued that the party may have to spend over $100 million in Texas with Paxton as the candidate to prevent Democrats from flipping the seat.<\/p>\n

Read more Politicians\u2019 Investments in Data Centers Could Add Up to a Political Liability<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Texas lawyer who helped lead Republican Ken Paxton\u2019s defense during a 2023 impeachment trial said Paxton \u201chas lost sight of his core mission.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-election"],"yoast_head":"\nKen Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Texas lawyer who helped lead Republican Ken Paxton\u2019s defense during a 2023 impeachment trial said Paxton \u201chas lost sight of his core mission.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T10:10:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T10:10:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250\"},\"wordCount\":489,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2026 Election\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250\",\"name\":\"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T10:10:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Texas Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, speaks for the first time since winning the Democratic nomination in Austin, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo\\\/Eric Gay)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=250#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico - Modern Home Journals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"A Texas lawyer who helped lead Republican Ken Paxton\u2019s defense during a 2023 impeachment trial said Paxton \u201chas lost sight of his core mission.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-06-08T10:10:25+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico","datePublished":"2026-06-08T10:10:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250"},"wordCount":489,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["2026 Election"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250","name":"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-08T10:10:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/707c3c2db7d4e6e3c977158b729436b4-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Texas Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, speaks for the first time since winning the Democratic nomination in Austin, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=250#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ken Paxton\u2019s Impeachment Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}