The owners of Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in New Braunfels said they did not know Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had scheduled an 8:30 a.m. "Come and Take It" campaign rally at the restaurant on Saturday, Oct. 24, until the event had already started. Paxton is running against Democrat James Talarico for a U.S. Senate seat.
In a social media post, Cooper's said ownership had no advance knowledge of the event and called it the action of a "rogue employee" that was not authorized by ownership. The restaurant said the matter would be addressed internally. A separate statement issued at 10:48 a.m. said the company does not endorse political candidates.
The event was publicized in an Oct. 23 story in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and in posts on the Comal County Republican Party's Facebook page, which invited the public to register for tickets. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California joined Paxton on stage. Paxton's tour of Texas, which began in mid-October, has more than 30 planned stops and ends with an event at the Alamo in San Antonio on Nov. 3.