A man has been arrested after weapons were found in an unmarked vehicle outside of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s election night watch party in Texas.
Paxton is facing off in a primary contest against incumbent Senator John Cornyn and Congressman Wesley Hunt on Tuesday.
Alex Muse, a witness to the incident, said that the man arrested was wearing a camouflage face mask, sunglasses, a hat, and gloves when he stood outside of Marriott’s Dallas Uptown location.
The security scare unfolded ahead of a high-profile campaign event for Paxton amid the brutal GOP primary race on Tuesday evening after a suspicious man was detained by police at the hotel venue, per the New York Times.
A Paxton campaign staffer revealed that the man had been seen entering the hotel and asking to use the restroom, sparking concern among staff.
One hotel employee, speaking on condition of anonymity amid the ongoing police investigation, said he briefly spoke with the man, who claimed he was an Uber driver.
But the explanation immediately raised red flags.
According to the staff member, the vehicle the man was driving appeared to have no license plates attached — an alarming detail that deepened suspicions about his intentions.
Police work to clear a scene outside of a watch party for GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton after arresting a man for reportedly have multiple magazines of ammunition in his car on March 3, 2026 in Dallas, Texas
The inside of a car belonging to a man who was arrested after reportedly having several magazines of ammunition outside of a watch party for GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton on March 3, 2026 in Dallas, Texas
Police bag magazines of ammunition after arresting a man outside of a watch party for GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton
A car, seen here with no license plate, is towed after an individual was caught trying to bring a gun into a venue for an election night watch party for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Dallas
Alex Muse recounts what he saw to a group of reporters outside a watch party for GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton on March 3, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. A man was arrested after reportedly having magazines of ammunition in his car
Police swiftly moved in and later searched the vehicle. Officers appeared to remove a license plate from inside the car, though they declined to comment on what the man was being detained for. It also remains unclear whether he was armed when he entered the hotel.
The unsettling incident unfolded shortly before doors were scheduled to open at 6 PM Central Time for the campaign event. Dozens of Paxton staffers and members of the media had already gathered inside the hotel as polls across most of Texas were set, bar a few of the state’s most western counties, to close at 7 PM Central.
Despite the tense disruption, Paxton is still planned to appear and address supporters later in the evening.
Paxton is presumed to be the frontrunner in the GOP primary contest, but will most likely not come away with enough votes to win the election outright, forcing a runoff with incumbent Cornyn.
