Ken Paxton Spotted Fleeing Texas With Girlfriend After Voters Reject His Senate Bid—Flying Coach To Fiji

Eight days after losing his U.S. Senate race, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was photographed at San Francisco airport with his girlfriend, Tracy Duhon, wearing a straw hat and carrying a Republican Attorneys General Association backpack. They were apparently headed to Fiji. And photos show them in coach. They departed Wednesday night, November 11. A witness says they worried about their bags making it to Fiji. Michael Board shares the photo of Ken Paxton and Tracy Duhon at San Francisco airport Another photo shows them standing in the aisle of coach. TMZ: Ken Paxton spotted in San Francisco International Airport, witness says he was traveling to Fiji https://t.co/GNFXuDuPvY — Kalshi Politics (@KalshiPolitics) November 12, 2026 Meanwhile, Paxton’s divorce finalized Thursday. State Senator Angela Paxton filed to end their 38-year marriage last year “on biblical grounds.” I’ve covered the travels of Ted Cruz, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Bernie Sanders and others, and the credit card spend habits of former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. This choice isn’t partisan. Paxton Has A History Of Getting Out Of Town A Texas politician fleeing the state for warmer climes brings to mind Ted Cruz flying to Cancún during the February 2021 winter storm while millions of Texans were without power. This time the disaster was electoral. But Paxton has his own winter storm escape story. He and his then-wife went to Utah during that same freeze, saying he had meetings with Utah’s attorney general about the state Google antitrust case. This summer, I wrote about Paxton spending America’s 250th birthday in London with Duhon. He marked the anniversary of separating from Britain by going to Britain. The pair had been spotted traveling through Washington Dulles on their way to Iceland in late June. Then came the London video, with Marriott County Hall in the background. They apparently flew economy on that trip. Video of Ken Paxton and Tracy Duhon in London over the Fourth of July weekend In October, the Wall Street Journal reported on video of Paxton and Duhon celebrating New Year’s Eve 2024 overlooking the Burj Khalifa fireworks with fugitives indicted in a federal healthcare fraud case who had contributed $190,000 to Paxton’s campaign. James Talarico’s campaign shares footage of Ken Paxton at the Dubai gathering Republicans Knew Who They Were Nominating The Republican-controlled Texas House impeached Attorney General Paxton. Paxton’s own senior staff reported him to the FBI. House investigators alleged that an Austin real estate developer provided home renovations and helped conceal Paxton’s activities, including through an Uber account under the name “Dave P.” He also employed a woman Paxton previously had an affair with. The Uber account apparently let Paxton carry on his affair and visit his donor without his security detail or using his identifiable state vehicle. In return, Paxton allegedly used his office to help the developer. One example was a rushed legal opinion invoking pandemic restrictions to stop foreclosure auctions. The Texas Senate, under pressure large donors and the Lieutenant Governor, acquitted him in 2023. He’d also spent years under state felony securities fraud charges. That case ended through an agreement requiring restitution, community service and ethics training. The federal corruption investigation ended without charges. President Trump endorsed Paxton against incumbent Senator John Cornyn a week before their May runoff. Republicans then had to spend heavily defending a seat they’d held for decades, with a candidate that may have been one of the worst campaigners I’ve seen in 30 years even apart from his past challenges. Here he is wearing a reported-$40,000 watch and a Four Seasons golf shirt. And this clip of him was promoted by his campaign: .@KenPaxtonTX: The future of our state and the future of our country ride on this race. https://t.co/2ZvVWdhwzp — Paxton War Room (@PaxtonsPatriots) August 29, 2026 That choice cost Republicans dearly. Cornyn would’ve been far better-positioned in the general election. Counterfactuals are hard, but the rest of his party’s nominees at the state level were clearly brought down by his place on the ticket. Republicans even appeared in advertising against him. Former Republican state Representative Glenn Rogers, who’d voted to impeach Paxton, appeared in a pro-Talarico ad saying he’d never trust or support Paxton. The most revealing ad may have been the one Angela Paxton made because polls showed over 10% of Republicans staying home. While divorcing him, she urged Republicans to vote without mentioning her husband by name: “It’s about getting the whole team across the finish line.” Paxton wasn’t the only Republican with problems. Governor Greg Abbott had helped defeat Republican legislators who opposed school choice in the 2024 primaries. That left resentment in rural communities where public schools are major employers, and there are fewer private school options where the vouchers could be used. Republicans also faced a terrible national election environment, with an unpopular President and high gas prices. I Even Agree With Him On Some Of His Lawsuits Just this morning, I wrote about Austin’s airport rail plans and the financing arrangement Paxton’s office challenged. The city raised property taxes, then routed the money through a separate corporation to issue the debt, allowing the city to claim that it isn’t borrowing. Economically, property taxes support the bonds, while the city claims its not running afoul on state borrowing rules. The arrangement is probably illegal, but the state’s new attorney general may not be as inclined to continue the litigation. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons Even where they might agree with Paxton on an issue, plenty of Texans would’ve been happy for him to leave much earlier, even without a ticket to Fiji. Topics on this page