Ken Paxton’s Former Lawyer Endorses His Democratic Opponent

HOUSTON — A Houston lawyer who defended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against criminal charges, and represented him during his 2023 impeachment trial, has endorsed Paxton’s Democratic opponent in the U.S. Senate race, James Talarico.

The lawyer, Dan Cogdell, said Paxton had “lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas.” Cogdell argued that Talarico prioritized “unity over division” and could bring together Democrats and some Republicans, and that “we need that right now.”

Cogdell announced the endorsement Monday in a podcast interview with Talarico that was recorded last month — the day after Paxton won the Republican primary over Sen. John Cornyn.

The support from Cogdell helped bolster a message that Talarico has pushed since Paxton’s primary victory: that Republican voters who backed Cornyn would find “a place” in the Democratic candidate’s campaign.

“I’m not interested in pitting people against each other,” Talarico said in the podcast interview.

Cogdell made the maximum personal contribution allowed by law to Paxton’s Senate run last year, according to campaign finance records. But he has since decided that the Republican candidate is too aligned with President Donald Trump, he said in an interview with The New York Times on Monday.

“He’s just an absolute rubber stamp,” Cogdell said.

Other members of Paxton’s impeachment defense team quickly jumped in Monday to support Paxton and argue that Cogdell was hardly a conservative firebrand.

“I love Dan, but he is a Democrat, and he doesn’t vote very much,” state Rep. Mitch Little, a Dallas-area lawyer elected to the Texas House after the impeachment trial, said on social media. “This impeachment defense lawyer is 100% behind Ken Paxton.”

A spokesperson for Paxton declined to comment, pointing instead to comments from other lawyers who had represented Paxton.

Cogdell was part of Paxton’s defense team during the two-week impeachment trial in the Republican-led Texas Senate, in which Paxton was accused of corruption and abuse of office by Republicans in the Texas House. The Senate voted to acquit Paxton.

Cogdell also defended Paxton against accusations of securities fraud during a yearslong criminal case in Texas state court, helping to secure a deal for Paxton in 2024 that involved performing community service and paying $300,000 in restitution. Cogdell stressed at the time that the deal was not an admission of wrongdoing.

“I don’t dislike Ken personally,” said Cogdell, who describes himself as a political moderate. “I stood behind the man for eight years.”

He added: “As a criminal defense lawyer, I wouldn’t probably endorse the vast majority of my clients, current or former, if they were running for Senate.”

Tony Buzbee, another prominent Houston lawyer, said that Cogdell was among 20 lawyers who had helped defend Paxton, and he described him on social media as a “life-long Democrat.”

Cogdell acknowledged voting only in Democratic primaries in Texas in the past but said he had voted many times for Republicans in general elections. He dismissed the accusations of being a Democrat, saying he had contributed far more campaign money to Republicans over the years.

The endorsement, and ensuing back-and-forth, was an unexpected reprise of the kind of verbal sparring between high-powered Texas lawyers that took place during Paxton’s impeachment — only this time between former members of the same team.

And it revealed some of the tensions that were also present then.

“He’s bitching about me being a lifelong Democrat — he ran for office as a Democrat,” Cogdell said of Buzbee. “So whatever, dude.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By J. David Goodman/Jordan Vonderhaar
c. 2026 The New York Times Company

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