The Texas U.S. Senate race is heating up in an unexpectedly humorous and scandalous way, highlighting a bizarre incident from the state courthouse that could have big implications. Campaigns and voters are now parsing a video showing Ken Paxton, the embattled Texas attorney general, allegedly stealing a luxury pen from a lawyer’s tray at the Collin County Courthouse decades ago—a moment now turned into a campaign weapon.
The story begins with a simple act of innocence gone awry. Joe Joplin, a Collin County attorney, placed a Montblanc pen— a gift from his wife valued at over $1,000—at the courthouse security tray one morning. When he noticed it was missing later, he contacted courthouse security. The video footage, obtained years later, depicted Paxton, then a state senator, rummaging through the trays and walking away with Joplin’s expensive pen.
The incident remained mostly under the radar until recently, when Joplin’s lawyer uncovered the footage. Paxton’s camp initially claimed that the pen was taken “by mistake.” Nevertheless, the police identified and recovered the pen, and no charges were filed, with Joplin choosing not to pursue legal action.
Fast forward more than ten years, and this seemingly trivial event has become a powerful campaign ad. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate aiming to unseat Paxton, has released a provocative video highlighting the incident. Narration over the footage starkly states, “Paxton walked up to the trays next to the metal detectors, rummaged through them, and came across someone else’s expensive Montblanc pen. He decided to take it for himself.”
The ad then pivots, emphasizing that Joplin himself, a man of integrity, could have pressed charges but didn’t——just as he publicly endorses Talarico for the U.S. Senate. “Because Joe’s a nice guy, and he’d never take someone else’s pen. But he also hasn’t forgotten who took his,” the narrator explains. The ad culminates with Joplin’s endorsement: “Hi, I’m Joe Joplin, and I endorse James Talarico for the United States Senate.”
The campaign has turned the incident into a talking point, even selling pens in their campaign store labeled as not Paxton’s for six dollars. The incident’s real-life significance is underscored by the fact that the Collin County Courthouse is also where Paxton was indicted for securities fraud—charges dismissed last year after he completed a pretrial diversion agreement with $300,000 in restitution.
Paxton’s campaign dismisses the ad as “childish attacks,” insisting that the incident was “thoroughly litigated,” even though no charges were ever formally filed over the pen theft. Meanwhile, notable endorsements have bolstered Talarico’s campaign, including defense attorney Dan Cogdell, who defended Paxton during his impeachment trial.
With the election approaching, many see Paxton’s reluctance to debate and the resurfacing of this peculiar incident as signs of vulnerability. As Texas’s most closely watched Senate race in years unfolds, political observers suggest Paxton may be “toast” — especially when a simple pen theft has become a symbolic battleground in the fight for control of the Senate.
