Two separate controversies are now shadowing the U.S. Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic Rep. James Talarico, with new reporting surfacing on both candidates in the same week, three weeks before Election Day.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Paxton and his girlfriend, Tracy Duhon, attended a New Year’s Eve 2024 celebration in Dubai, watching fireworks over the Burj Khalifa from a high-rise balcony. Also present, according to court records and people familiar with the matter cited by the Journal, were Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail, two American men who had been indicted months earlier on federal healthcare-fraud charges and had not returned to the United States.
Campaign-finance records show Ahmed donated $190,000 to Paxton’s past campaigns, including a $25,000 contribution made days after his indictment. There is no indication in the Journal’s reporting that Ahmed donated to Paxton’s current Senate campaign. The gathering took place before Paxton announced his Senate candidacy on April 8, 2025. Paxton acknowledged having an extramarital affair during his 2023 impeachment trial.
Prosecutors have accused Ahmed and Suhail of embezzling $15 million from Chicago’s Loretto Hospital and steering $19 million in hospital contracts through bribery; Ahmed also faces separate charges tied to an alleged $300 million COVID-19 testing fraud scheme.
Kent Schaffer, a special prosecutor who filed charges against Paxton in 2015, said of the attorney general’s record: “It’s just amazing to me that he’s never been held accountable.”
Talarico’s 13-day absence
The Dubai report emerged days after Talarico’s campaign addressed questions about his 13-day absence from public view, which the campaign has attributed to a bout of the flu. The New York Times reported that it reviewed time-stamped security camera images from Talarico’s Austin home, provided by his campaign on the condition they not be published for security reasons, showing him around the exterior of the home and at its entrances between Oct. 1 and Oct. 8.
The absence fueled speculation, including unverified claims from online commentators that Talarico had been hospitalized in Ohio for mental health reasons. The Times described the episode as reflecting broader distrust of politicians and media, amplified by social media algorithms, and noted it carries a lesson for candidates: even a legitimate illness can become a political liability if left unexplained for too long.
Not all Democratic-aligned voices have been reassured. Strategist Dan Turrentine said he remains “nervous” about the episode, arguing that if Talarico were not being forthcoming it could cost him the race and potentially affect Democrats’ chances of winning the Senate. He said Talarico could resolve the matter by releasing more detailed proof of his whereabouts. Longtime Democratic pollster Mark Penn also questioned the explanation, saying, “Never seen anything quite like this.”
A high-stakes race
The contest between Paxton and Talarico is among the most closely watched and expensive Senate races this cycle, with polling showing Talarico ahead of Paxton despite heavy Republican campaign spending. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas in more than three decades, and the state has not elected a Democratic senator since 1988. With 21 days remaining before the midterms, both campaigns are contending with controversies that could shape the outcome in a state Republicans have long considered safely theirs.
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