Ken Paxton
Republican Ken Paxton (above) faces a brutal new attack ad from James Talarico over a plea deal that initially proposed one day in jail for Adam Hoffman Gage Skidmore/ Wikimedia Commons

A brutal new campaign ad has put Republican Ken Paxton under renewed fire over a controversial plea deal involving former Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman, who admitted guilt to a lesser sexual assault offence involving a child after prosecutors dropped the original felony case.

The attack, released by Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, portrays the deal as evidence of Paxton's willingness to go soft on a powerful defendant, turning a deeply disturbing criminal case into a major flashpoint in the Texas Senate race.

Talarico Turns One Day in Jail Into a Campaign Weapon

Talarico's ad opens with footage of Hoffman leaving jail before directly tying the case to Paxton. The Democrat accuses the Texas Attorney General of offering Hoffman an extraordinarily lenient arrangement after he had admitted to sexually abusing a child.

'This is Adam Hoffman leaving jail after he admitted to sexually abusing a child,' Talarico says in the ad. 'He should have spent his life in prison. Instead, Attorney General Ken Paxton offered him one day in jail.'

The ad also claims Hoffman's lawyer represented one of Paxton's major donors and labels the arrangement an 'Epstein-style sweetheart deal'. Those are Talarico's political characterisations, rather than findings by a court. Paxton's office has pushed back against the broader attacks, accusing Talarico of using the victim's case for political purposes.

The Original Case Ended in a Hung Jury

The controversy stems from Hoffman's 2025 prosecution on a felony charge of continuous sexual abuse of a young child. His first trial ended with a hung jury, meaning prosecutors did not secure a conviction and could potentially have sought another trial.

Paxton's office had taken over the prosecution after the locally elected district attorney recused himself. According to reporting and court records, prosecutors later said the victim did not want to testify again, creating difficult choices for the state as it considered whether to retry the case. Instead, prosecutors negotiated a plea agreement that reduced the original felony allegation to two misdemeanour offences.

Under the initial proposal, Hoffman would receive credit for time already served, amounting to just one day in custody. He would also surrender his law licence. The plea documents included an admission that Hoffman touched the victim's genitals with the stated intent of arousing or gratifying his sexual desire and without the complainant's consent.

Judge Rejected the One-Day Punishment

The proposed sentence immediately raised eyebrows inside the courtroom. Visiting Judge Roy Sparkman questioned the recommendation during an April hearing.

'One day. Seriously?' Sparkman said, according to the court transcript cited by PolitiFact. 'Somebody has to sell me on the wisdom of it.'

The prosecution subsequently proposed a tougher arrangement involving 30 days in jail and the surrender of Hoffman's Texas law licence. At a later sentencing hearing, however, the judge again confronted the issue after the victim's mother objected to the punishment.

'It's just not enough,' she told the court. 'He's dangerous. This isn't justice, and I can't do it.'

Sparkman ultimately increased the sentence to 60 days. Hoffman served about 29 days before his release, according to PolitiFact, meaning the final punishment was substantially different from the original one-day proposal.

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