WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Controversial U.S. Senate hopefuls Ken Paxton, a Republican from Texas, and Graham Platner, a Democrat from Maine, are in the nation\u2019s capital Tuesday to shore up support within their respective parties, with Paxton\u2019s itinerary including a White House huddle with President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
The campaign pilgrimage by the two candidates, one from each end of the political spectrum, comes with both men facing concerns they could cost their parties winnable races in the November midterms, with control of the Senate at stake for the final two years of Trump\u2019s second presidency.<\/p>\n
Paxton\u2019s planned meeting with Trump comes after he won the president\u2019s coveted endorsement ahead of trouncing Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas runoff last month. The scheduled meeting was confirmed by a person with knowledge of the president\u2019s plans but who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.<\/p>\n
Senate Republicans feared that Paxton, the Texas attorney general, would be a weaker candidate against James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, in the fall. Paxton has endured an indictment, an impeachment and public disclosure of martial infidelity.<\/p>\n
He also is expected to meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who backed Cornyn. Senate Republicans\u2019 campaign arm excoriated Paxton during the primary campaign, accusing him of \u201crepulsive and disgusting\u201d behavior and quoting his estranged wife saying she filed for divorce \u201con biblical grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Platner will meet with several Democratic senators days after disclosure that he and his wife have had marital difficulties and sought counseling after he reportedly sent sexually explicit text messages to other women.<\/p>\n
Both candidates are scheduled to attend fundraisers as well.<\/p>\n
Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is set to meet with Platner, said he doesn\u2019t believe Maine voters are focused on Platner\u2019s marriage. Asked if Platner still has a shot in the race, Heinrich said \u201cwe\u2019ll have to see\u201d and \u201cI suspect so.\u201d Platner and his wife have criticized media coverage of their marriage, framing it as a private matter that should not shape the campaign. Still, the latest personal issues added fuel to some Democrats\u2019 skittishness about Platner, who already faced scrutiny over online posts that were dismissive of sexual assault and a tattoo that is recognized as a Nazi symbol. Platner has apologized for the posts and covered up the tattoo.<\/p>\n Paxton has offered no apologies for his baggage. He framed his win over Cornyn as a \u201cTexas-sized message to Washington,\u201d and thanked Trump \u2014 who himself has endured repeated personal and political scandal to win two national elections \u2014 for his support.<\/p>\n Like Paxton, Platner was not the choice of his party\u2019s Senate brass, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backing Maine Gov. Janet Mills. But Platner effectively became the presumptive nominee after Mills suspended her campaign weeks ago because of fundraising difficulties.<\/p>\n Maine\u2019s primary is June 9, and Platner would face Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is running for a sixth term, in November. Defeating Collins is crucial to Democrats\u2019 attempts to regain control of the Senate. Democrats have repeatedly tried to unseat Collins, but she has always survived. In 2020, Collins won reelection even though Democrat Joe Biden carried the state over Trump by nine percentage points.<\/p>\n In Texas, some Republicans fear they will need to divert critical resources to boost Paxton over Talarico, who has become a national fundraising phenomenon.<\/p>\n Although Republicans have dominated Texas for decades, prominent party leaders have said the race could be genuinely competitive this time. Eight years ago, during the midterm election of Trump\u2019s first presidency, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won reelection over another Democratic fundraising juggernaut, Beto O\u2019Rourke, by less than 3 points.<\/p>\n Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate advantage and earlier in the campaign cycle were heavily favored to maintain their majority. But as Trump\u2019s popularity fades and primary fights yield nominees, Democrats have become more confident in their prospects. With control of the Senate on the line, most partisans have generally lined up behind Platner and Paxton, even if begrudgingly because of their political baggage. Tuesday\u2019s fundraising events were the latest evidence. The event for Paxton, with a $1,000 minimum donation required, according to the invitation, is being co-hosted by seven senators, including Cruz. The fundraiser for Platner is being co-hosted by former Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain.<\/p>\n \u201cMy priority is to make sure that Republicans control the majority so we can continue the agenda that we\u2019re on,\u201d said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, on Tuesday. \u201cKen Paxton is absolutely necessary as far as keeping that majority. I have faith that the people of Texas will support him, and he\u2019ll get across the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive, said her top concern is Platner\u2019s prospective constituents.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to hear from him about the economy,\u201d she said ahead of their meeting. \u201cAnd more about what he talks to the people of Maine about.\u201d<\/p>\n That echoes another leading progressive who, like Warren, has endorsed Platner. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he still supports Platner as part of the left\u2019s economic populism.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course,\u201d Sanders told reporters Monday. \u201cWhy would I not?\u201d<\/p>\n But not all Democrats are on board, including one who first came to the Senate with an outsider persona. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat who has earned a reputation for speaking and voting against his party, even appeared to relish Platner\u2019s newest controversy, calling him \u201cphustle,\u201d a reference to Platner\u2019s apparent profile uncovered on Kik, a popular, private messaging app.<\/p>\n \u201cSo much bizarre and tacky and gross stuff that you lose count. It\u2019s like you need to have a bingo card,\u201d Fetterman said.<\/p>\n The senator stopped stopped short of calling on Platner to drop out, but he echoed some Democrats\u2019 private concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, what\u2019s next?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He later said, \u201cI\u2019m not going to carry water for that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Controversial U.S. Senate hopefuls Ken Paxton, a Republican from Texas, and Graham Platner, a Democrat from Maine, are in the nation\u2019s capital Tuesday to shore up support within their respective parties, with Paxton\u2019s itinerary including a White House huddle with President Donald Trump. The campaign pilgrimage by the two candidates, one from … Continue reading Paxton and Platner visit Washington to shore up support for their controversial Senate candidacies<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1511979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-05 21:14:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1511979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1511980,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511979\/revisions\/1511980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1511979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1511979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1511979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPlatner and Paxton are pressing ahead with few apologies<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMost Democrats and Republicans are taking their usual sides<\/strong><\/p>\n