Country Singer Kacey Musgraves Hits Back at Kristi Noem With Dog-Shooting Jab After Noem Backs Ken Paxton

Kacey Musgraves has hit back at Kristi Noem with a jab about the former homeland security secretary shooting her own dog, after Noem endorsed Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race and took a swipe at the country singer.

Musgraves, a Grammy-winning Texan, responded on X after Noem weighed in on the contest between Paxton, the Republican nominee, and Democrat James Talarico. 'I don't think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it,' the singer wrote.

The remark played on the expression 'a dog in this fight' while referencing the controversy that followed the publication of Noem's 2024 memoir, in which she described shooting her own puppy.

How a Dallas Concert Pulled Musgraves Into the Texas Senate Race

The exchange began after Talarico attended a stop on Musgraves' Middle of Nowhere tour at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday, 10 October.

He subsequently shared a photograph with the singer on X and wrote: 'Thank you for having me last night, Kacey Musgraves!' Noem seized on that post to weigh in.

Replying two days later, she wrote that she would take Alabama singer Ella Langley over Musgraves 'any day', then added: 'And if I'm choosin' Texas, I'll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.'

The line referenced Langley's 'Choosin' Texas', a record-breaking Billboard Hot 100 hit co-written with Miranda Lambert.

Musgraves responded soon afterwards with her jab about Noem shooting her dog.

The Memoir Passage That Still Follows Kristi Noem

In her 2024 memoir, No Going Back, Noem recounted shooting Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer she described as 'untrainable' and 'dangerous', in a gravel pit on her property. She subsequently defended the killing, arguing that she had acted to protect her family and others from an aggressive animal.

The passage drew condemnation from animal-welfare groups and figures in both parties while she was in contention to be Donald Trump's running mate. Trump ultimately chose JD Vance.

Noem later served as Trump's homeland security secretary until March 2026, when the president removed her amid mounting criticism of her leadership and scrutiny of a $220 million department advertising campaign in which she appeared. Trump subsequently appointed her special envoy for the Shield of the Americas initiative.

Where the Paxton-Talarico Race Stands

The feud landed in the middle of a contest that could help decide control of the Senate. No Democrat has been elected to the US Senate from Texas since 1988, yet Talarico, a former middle-school teacher and seminarian known for viral clashes with Republicans, has led several recent polls since Paxton clinched the Republican nomination in May.

His bid has drawn comparisons to Beto O'Rourke's narrow loss to Ted Cruz in 2018. Paxton, the state attorney general, won the Republican primary after surviving a 2023 impeachment and has criticised Talarico over his recent absence from in-person campaign events while recovering from the flu.

A RealClearPolitics average of polling conducted between 18 September and 8 October placed Talarico 2.8 percentage points ahead, at 48.1 percent to 45.3 percent. A Trafalgar Group survey of 1,086 likely voters conducted from 6 to 8 October also showed him leading, 47 percent to 44 percent.

The figures suggest a competitive race, although polling represents a snapshot of voter preferences rather than a prediction of the final result.

No public response from Noem to Musgraves' remark had been identified as of publication.

Talarico, for his part, reposted a photograph with the singer and signed off with the familiar Texas slogan: 'Don't mess with Texas.'