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WASHINGTON — One of the lawyers who defended Attorney General Ken Paxton during his three-year-old impeachment trial endorsed Democrat James Talarico Monday in Texas’ U.S. Senate race.
Dan Cogdell, a veteran Houston attorney who represented Paxton in his long-running felony securities fraud case and his 2023 impeachment, announced his support for Talarico in an interview with the attorney general’s Democratic opponent on the lawyer’s podcast.
“I defended Ken Paxton for years in the impeachment trial and in state criminal cases,” Cogdell said on his podcast. “But in my view, respectfully, I think Ken has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas. And unlike Ken, I believe to my core, James, that you believe in unity over division and that you know how to assemble not only Democrats, but independents and Republicans — and we need that right now.”
The news was first reported by NOTUS.
Well-known in Texas courtrooms, Cogdell helped steer Paxton through legal battles for nearly a decade. The attorney general first hired him in 2015 after he was indicted for securities fraud, a case that went on until 2024, when prosecutors dropped the charges in exchange for Paxton taking legal ethics courses and paying six figures in restitution. And he served on Paxton’s defense team in his 2023 impeachment trial, which ended in an acquittal by the Republican-controlled Texas Senate.
Cogdell said on his podcast that unity in politics is needed today more than at any point in his lifetime, and that he believed Talarico could achieve it.
In a statement, Talarico said he was grateful for Cogdell’s support and that it was evidence of the broad coalition he wants to build.
“If you voted for John Cornyn, you have a place in this campaign,” Talarico said, reprising his message the night Paxton locked up the nomination. “If you’re a Republican tired of the corruption you’re seeing in government, you have a place in this campaign. Even if you’re Ken Paxton’s impeachment lawyer, you have a place in this campaign. We are building a people-powered movement that welcomes Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.”
Talarico is hoping to be the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas in over 30 years — a difficult task that the party is nonetheless enthused about because they see Paxton, given his legal and ethical baggage, as a uniquely compromised candidate.
Paxton defeated U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a 24-year incumbent, in a primary runoff last month, after a brutal campaign in which about $130 million was spent, mostly to boost Cornyn and bash the attorney general. But Paxton has strong support among the Republican grassroots, which powered him to a landslide victory in the runoff.
Polling has indicated a close race between Paxton and Talarico, with a slew of statewide surveys showing the Democrat with a narrow lead — a rare sight.
The Paxton campaign dismissed Cogdell’s endorsement as a predictable development.
“Dan is a Democrat and voted in the Democratic primary in 2024,” an aide close to Paxton told the Tribune. “Why is anyone shocked?”
Harris County vote rosters from 2024 confirm Cogdell voted in the Democratic primary that year.
The longtime trial lawyer has donated to both Paxton and Talarico this cycle. He gave $6,500 to Paxton’s Senate campaign nearly a year ago, then donated $1,000 to Talarico’s campaign in March, after he won the Democratic primary.
Cogdell’s endorsement of Talarico is not the first time his name has come up in the U.S. Senate race. The Cornyn campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which backed Cornyn, attacked Paxton over his ties to Cogdell, noting the Houston attorney’s past anti-Trump comments and that he represents the East Plano Islamic Center, or EPIC City, in legal proceedings. The housing development has come under attack from members of the Texas GOP, including both Cornyn and Paxton, during the campaign amid a broader surge in anti-Islam rhetoric on the right.
In a since-deleted ad and social media posts from the primary, the NRSC bashed Cogdell as a “Trump-hating Democrat” and attacked Paxton for his affiliation with him.
Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, who also served on Paxton’s defense team before becoming a state representative, said Cogdell is a Democrat.
“I love Dan, but he is a Democrat, and he doesn’t vote very much,” Little said. “This impeachment defense lawyer is 100% behind Ken Paxton.”
