Ken Paxton
What is Ken Paxton’s current role?
What legal charges has Ken Paxton faced?
What lawsuits has Ken Paxton filed as attorney general?
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In 2026 Texas attorney general and Republican candidate Ken Paxton lost his U.S. Senate race to Democratic state legislator James Talarico. A hardline conservative, Paxton has opposed abortion rights and transgender care, and he has sued over alleged election fraud. A staunch supporter of U.S. Pres. Donald Trump, he used his office to file dozens of lawsuits against the federal government under Democratic presidents. In the May 2026 GOP primary runoff, Trump endorsed Paxton over incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Paxton’s loss means that Texas voters will send their first Democratic senator to Washington since 1988.
Early years
- Full name: Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr.
- Born: December 23, 1962; Minot, North Dakota, U.S.
- Education: Baylor University, B.A. in psychology (1985), M.B.A. (1986); University of Virginia, Juris Doctor (1991)
- Party affiliation: Republican
- Current role: Republican attorney general of Texas; lost his bid for the U.S. Senate
- Family: Married Angela Allen on November 1, 1986; the couple have four children. Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July 2025.
- Quotation (after his 2023 acquittal in the Texas Senate): “The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt.”
Paxton was born Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr., in North Dakota when his father was stationed at the Minot Air Force Base. He grew up on bases across the United States as his father’s career took him to states including Oklahoma and New York. Playing hide-and-seek as a 12-year-old, Paxton suffered a debilitating eye injury when a boy threw a berry at his face. Doctors eventually had to remove the lens in his right eye, which resulted in his eyes being two different colors; his right eye also droops. Then while a freshman at Baylor University, Paxton took an elbow in the face that further injured the right side of his face and required surgery. Paxton received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an M.B.A. from Baylor before getting his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.
From the statehouse to attorney general
Paxton held several positions as a lawyer, including working as in-house counsel for JCPenney and heading up his own law firm for 14 years. In 2002 he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives; in 2012 he won a seat in the State Senate. Two years later Paxton was elected state attorney general; he won reelection in 2018 and 2022. Early in his tenure he formed a unit aimed at fighting human trafficking in Texas. Paxton’s first two years as attorney general overlapped with U.S. Pres. Barack Obama’s final two, and Paxton repeatedly sued the administration to fight “federal overreach,” as he put it.
By his own count Paxton filed more than two dozen lawsuits against the Obama administration, targeting environmental regulations, federal overtime rules, transgender bathroom guidelines, and other policies. In 2020 he filed a lawsuit challenging Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victories in the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case. During the Biden administration Paxton resumed his legal crusade against federal policies. In 2025, after Trump made the unproven claim that acetaminophen can cause autism, Paxton sued the manufacturers of Tylenol, claiming that they had engaged in “deceptive trade practices” by concealing the risks to pregnant people.
Playing defense
Paxton is not always playing offense. Right from the start of his tenure as attorney general, he has been forced to defend himself against a series of legal and political charges. In 2016 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Paxton with civil securities fraud. The SEC alleged that Paxton did not disclose his commission when working to raise investor funds for the company Servergy, Inc. Later that year U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant dismissed the case, writing that “under the facts pleaded by the Commission, Paxton did not have a legal obligation to disclose his financial arrangement.”
In May 2023 the Republican-led Texas House voted to impeach Paxton on a 121–23 vote, alleging that he had abused his office to help a political donor, which led to his suspension as attorney general. State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican impeachment manager who represents Paxton’s district, fought back tears as he spoke at the state Senate impeachment trial. “I have loved Ken Paxton for a long time,” he said. “I’ve done life with Ken Paxton—we’ve traveled together, attend church together.” But, Leach said, Paxton had not answered questions about the allegations. In September 2023 the State Senate voted to acquit Paxton, and he resumed his duties as attorney general. Then in 2024 Paxton settled a nine-year criminal case on securities fraud charges, paying nearly $300,000 in restitution.
In 2025 four former top aides to Paxton who had accused him of corruption in 2020 were awarded $6.6 million after alleging that they had been unjustly fired. A judge ruled that Paxton’s office had violated Texas’s whistleblower act and awarded the former aides compensation for emotional pain, legal fees, and other costs. Also in 2025 Paxton’s wife of 38 years, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.” In her divorce petition, she accused him of adultery.
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Senate race
In April 2025 Paxton announced that he was challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary, arguing that the four-term Republican senator had a thin track record. “It’s hard to think of the things that he’s done good for Texas or the country,” Paxton said on Fox News at the time. In response, the Cornyn campaign said, “Ken Paxton is a fraud.” Some Republicans worry that the race will divide the party and weaken it during the crucial 2026 midterm elections. Congressman Wesley Hunt also ran in the March 3 primary. Cornyn garnered 41.8 percent of the vote; Paxton got 40.8 percent, with Hunt at 13.4 percent. Since neither Paxton nor Cornyn secured a majority, as required by Texas law, they faced voters again in a May 26 runoff. On May 19, Trump announced his support for Paxton saying in a Truth Social post:
Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas.
With Paxton’s victory over Cornyn, he faced Talarico, who defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary. Despite the Trump endorsement and some enormous campaign donations from Elon Musk, Paxton was dogged by controversy and lost resoundingly to Talarico.