GOP senators, open to Paxton conviction, flipped when they realized they were still short the votes

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, center, bows his head in prayer as state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, leads the Senate in prayer during the fifth day of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Senate chamber at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (Credit: Juan Figueroa/Pool via The Dallas Morning News)

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In the closing arguments of the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton, Rep. Jeff Leach, a former Paxton ally who was now making the case against him, told his Senate colleagues that their next vote would be “the hardest vote, the most difficult vote, the heaviest vote” that they would ever cast.