Overview
- Talarico released a one-minute ad on Friday that features Collin County attorney Joe Joplin recounting a 2013 courthouse episode and formally endorsing Talarico.
- The campaign says it obtained security-camera footage that shows Paxton picking up a Montblanc pen left at courthouse screening and returning it only after police intervened, a return Paxton’s office calls an inadvertent error.
- The ad closes with the tagline that Talarico “won’t steal your pen,” and the campaign is selling low-cost ‘Not Ken Paxton’s Pen’ merchandise while promoting the spot at rallies and on social media.
- Talarico’s team ties the pen episode to Paxton’s broader history of legal and ethics controversies, using a simple, personal anecdote to make a character argument to voters.
- The tactic recycles a story once used by Paxton’s opponents and could influence undecided voters in a narrowly contested race by surfacing in debates, donor appeals, and local news coverage.