Why did a top lawyer, after defending Ken Paxton, endorse his rival?

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Dan Cogdell said he backed James Talarico because, in his view, Ken Paxton had stopped focusing on serving Texans and had become too closely tied to Donald Trump. Cogdell, the Houston lawyer who defended Paxton in both his long-running securities case and the 2023 impeachment trial, said his professional duty to Paxton ended with those cases. As a citizen, he said, he reached a different judgment about who should represent Texas in the Senate. He described himself as a moderate and said Paxton had “lost sight of his core mission,” pointing to issues such as education and health care that he believes need more attention. By contrast, Cogdell said Talarico offered a message of “unity over division” and was trying to build support beyond one political camp. That fit with Talarico’s broader effort to attract voters who may be uneasy with Paxton after the Republican primary. The endorsement is notable because Cogdell had previously supported Paxton financially, giving the maximum personal contribution to his Senate campaign, before later donating to Talarico. Paxton’s campaign downplayed the move, noting Cogdell is a registered Democrat and has given to both candidates. So the shift was not about Cogdell revising his legal defense of Paxton. It was about his view that Paxton’s politics and priorities no longer matched what Texas needs, while Talarico’s approach did.

Paxton's Former Lawyer Backs Talarico After Giving Maximum Donation in 2025

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Paxton's Former Lawyer Backs Talarico After Giving Maximum Donation in 2025

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