Texas Ranchers Shouldn’t Vote for ‘Lizard’ Ken Paxton: Ex-Farm Bureau Chief
“Ken Paxton has the morals of a lizard, and that is probably being unkind to lizards,” said Bob Stallman, former president of the Texas Farm Bureau and American Farm Bureau Federation, in a scathing op-ed this week.
In the article published by the Houston Chronicle, Stallman slammed Paxton, calling him “corrupt” and calling his integrity into question.
The attack came just weeks after the Texas Farm Bureau, which Stallman once led, endorsed Paxton for Senate.
The Texas Farm Bureau said in an endorsement that Paxton has “consistently used the courts to defend Texas farmers, ranchers and landowners,” and that he has “worked to protect the interests of farm and ranch families.”
Newsweek reached out to Ken Paxton's campaign team and the Texas Farm Bureau via email for comment.
In the op-ed published on Tuesday, Stallman pulled no punches as he shared his thoughts about the Republican candidate, and the Texas Farm Bureau’s decision to back him.
Stallman said that the endorsement had “greatly diminished” the Texas Farm Bureau’s reputation, adding: “No matter what the Texas Farm Bureau says, I will not vote to elect Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate—nor will I encourage anyone else to do so.”
He went on to say that Paxton has been “proven to be corrupt,” pointing to the attorney general’s alleged marital infidelity and his 2023 impeachment by the Texas House over allegations that he abused his office to benefit a political donor. Paxton denied wrongdoing and was acquitted by the Texas Senate later that year.
In July 2025, Angela Paxton filed for divorce on what she described as "biblical grounds." Court records later unsealed by a judge showed that she alleged Ken Paxton had committed adultery—though Paxton denied this in court filings. Despite their estrangement, Angela Paxton recently endorsed her husband in the Senate race.
“I’ve worked with plenty of Republicans who truly care about the agriculture industry. In my opinion, Paxton is not one of them, and he does not have the moral fitness to serve as a U.S. senator,” Stallman said.
Earlier this month, former senior aide and whistleblower David Maxwell, who testified during Paxton's 2023 impeachment proceedings, endorsed Democrat James Talarico's Senate campaign and later appeared in one of his campaign advertisements.
At the center of Stallman’s criticisms of Paxton was something at the heart of Texas agriculture: beef.
He argued that Paxton had let down Texan ranchers by not challenging President Donald Trump’s 2026 announcement that the U.S. would temporarily allow up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef to enter the country without certain tariffs.
The president announced that the imported beef would be sold at 25 percent below current market prices to lower consumer costs, but many cattle groups pushed back and Trump's approval rating dropped in Texas as a result. Farmers argue that the foreign beef would undercut domestic producers who were already struggling with historically low herd numbers and high costs.
Stallman argued that Paxton should have challenged the announcement, adding: “I know why Paxton didn’t: It’s because the president is bailing out Paxton’s Senate campaign.”
By contrast, Talarico did speak out against Trump’s beef plan. In a statement in August, he said: “Our farmers and ranchers have been working hard every day to rebuild our cattle herd, protect Americans from the New World screwworm and bring down the cost of beef,” adding that “flooding the market with foreign beef” would make it harder for Texas cattle ranchers to get by.
It was noteworthy that Talarico spoke out on the side of beef farmers as Republicans have continued to question his diet, suggesting he is a vegan and therefore could not do well with Texans.
“He’s a vegan in Texas, and you can’t get elected as a vegan in Texas,” said Trump in May.
Talarico has denied that he is vegan, and in a statement last month quipped: “I’m an eighth-generation Texan. I’ve been eating BBQ since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”
To Stallman, that doesn’t matter anymore. “Texans are missing one simple fact: Whether or not Talarico eats beef doesn’t really matter,” he said, adding: “Above all else, I believe that honor and integrity still matter.”
As the fight for the November midterm election heats up further, the latest polling data collected by RealClearPolitics gives Talarico a narrow but consistent lead over Paxton.
Talarico had a 2.9 point lead as of the end of September, with Talarico’s numbers climbing into the high 40s while Paxton remains stuck in the mid-40s.
Recent polling suggests Talarico's advantage is being driven by strong support among independents, younger voters and Hispanic voters, while Paxton's support is concentrated among white and older Texans.
A Cook Political Report/TelevisaUnivision poll also suggests that Talarico’s advantage is being driven by support from Hispanic voters, with Talarico leading Paxton among Hispanic voters 63 percent to 30 percent.
Hispanic Texans make up about 32 percent of the state’s adult citizens, according to Pew Research Center. Republicans made major gains with Hispanic voters in 2024, particularly in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, and their movement toward Republicans was widely viewed as a key factor in Trump's 2024 victory in Texas.
