HOUSTON — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton drew criticism after he referred to Cypress, a Houston-area community, as “Cyprus” in a now-deleted campaign post on X.
Paxton, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, mentioned “Cyprus” in a Saturday night post after a campaign stop in Lubbock.
“Thank you for joining me in Lubbock today! This campaign continues to grow every day,” Paxton wrote. “Next stop: Cyprus with the great @TedCruz. We will keep Texas, Texas.”
Paxton appeared to refer to Cypress, a community about 25 miles northwest of downtown Houston where he plans to hold a campaign event Monday.
Cyprus, meanwhile, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Commenters quickly criticized the error, including Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, who is challenging Paxton in the Senate race.
“It’s Cypress, not ‘Cyprus,’” Talarico wrote Sunday on X. “But for all the time you spend on luxury vacations in Europe, it’s no surprise you don’t know Texas.”
Paxton’s campaign and office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His original post disappeared from X around 1 p.m. Sunday.
Some commenters defended Paxton and described the mistake as a typo, while others criticized the deletion and the confusion between the two names.
The incident occurred amid a contentious Senate campaign that has featured attack ads and public clashes between Paxton and Talarico ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Paxton plans to appear with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz at a campaign event around 2:30 p.m. Monday at Glorious Way Church in Cypress. Talarico is scheduled to appear Thursday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.