Paxton's Iceland Getaway Stirs Questions During Heated Race

When you’re running neck-and-neck in one of the year’s most closely watched political races, taking a European vacation days before Independence Day might not be the move. Yet that’s exactly what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton did over the weekend—and the optics have become the story.

The 63-year-old attorney general boarded a flight from Washington, D.C., to Reykjavik, Iceland on Saturday, June 27, accompanied by Tracy Duhon, a woman multiple outlets are reporting as his alleged mistress. The pair were spotted at Dulles International Airport, flying economy to Iceland’s capital. It’s not the kind of headline a candidate wants when they’re tied at 47 points with Democratic challenger James Talarico in a tight midterm race, according to a recent New York Times/Siena poll.

The timing is particularly loaded given what’s already on the public record. Paxton’s wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, filed for divorce in July 2025 on what she called“biblical grounds,”citing her husband’s alleged infidelity. In her statement, Angela, who represents the McKinney, Texas area, wrote that after 38 years of marriage and“earnest”attempts at reconciliation, she could no longer remain in the marriage“in light of recent discoveries.”The couple had stopped living together in June 2024, according to the divorce papers. Meanwhile, Paxton’s own statement struck a more measured tone, framing the split as a mutual decision to“start a new chapter.”

Duhon has never publicly confirmed any romantic relationship with Paxton or responded to reports linking the two together. Still, being photographed boarding a transatlantic flight together is hard to ignore, particularly when a candidate’s personal life has already become intertwined with his political standing.

Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Ryan Martin wasted no time pouncing on the trip. In a statement to the San Antonio Current, he criticized Paxton for prioritizing leisure travel in the days leading up to the Fourth of July holiday, accusing him of“putting himself first and America last.”Martin added a forward-looking jab:“Paxton shouldn’t worry too much though—he’ll have all the time in the world for luxury getaways with his mistress after he loses in November.”

With six percent of likely voters still undecided and the race effectively deadlocked, this kind of story doesn’t help Paxton’s campaign message. Whether it moves the needle remains to be seen, but the contrast between a candidate in a dead heat and one taking luxury vacations abroad is exactly the kind of moment that sticks in voters’minds.