Who is Ken Paxton? The record behind the Texas attorney general’s run for U.S. Senate

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Recent developments

• Sept. 28, 2026
  Paxton’s campaign has spent $465,000 on ads; outside groups have spent $98.5 million for him2026 U.S. Senate race
• Sept. 28, 2026
  Paxton announces a string of new investigations weeks before early votingClaim check
• Sept. 26, 2026
  With gas up 69% since the Iran war began, Paxton won’t oppose the war, and says he’d have preferred it wait until after the midtermsClaim check
• Sept. 24, 2026
  Paxton still has not committed to a debate after promising in July to debate Talarico2026 U.S. Senate race
• Sept. 24, 2026
  PolitiFact rates a pro-Paxton super PAC ad False2026 U.S. Senate race
• Sept. 21, 2026
  Report: Paxton took $40,000 from donors tied to the Chinese real estate investment he campaigns againstChina-linked donors
• Sept. 18, 2026
  Paxton owes $4,551.77 in overdue property taxes on his Hawaii landSenate financial disclosures
• Sept. 16, 2026
  Family of a pregnant woman who died sues Paxton, blaming the abortion ban he enforcesClaim check
• Sept. 15, 2026
  FactCheck.org: Paxton’s AI-generated ad takes Talarico’s remarks out of context2026 U.S. Senate race
• Sept. 11, 2026
  Senate GOP super PAC that questioned Paxton’s ethics in the primary now funds him2026 U.S. Senate race
• Sept. 8, 2026
  Paxton touts an egg giveaway as price relief; the settlements pay $3.3 million split among all statesClaim check
• Sept. 4, 2026
  Reporting finds Paxton’s Senate financial disclosures omit rental income and $1.3 million in mortgagesSenate financial disclosures

Full timeline

His claims vs. his record

• Mostly false
  Paxton says he’ll lower costs. His plan doesn’t lower prices, and his record cuts the other way.

  His plan is federal tax deductions, not lower prices; he backs the Iran war that has driven gas up 69%, and as a legislator he voted against regulating payday lenders.
• False
  Paxton says he’s for working families. He sued to block their overtime pay and fought their sick leave.

  He sued to stop overtime pay for about 4 million workers, fought city paid-sick-leave rules, tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act and voted against the Texas equal-pay bill.
• Misleading
  Paxton says he takes on big corporations. The settlement money didn’t go to Texans, and some went to donor-linked lawyers.

  He did sue big companies, but the largest settlements went to the state treasury, not consumers, and $97 million in fees went to a firm employing his former aide.
• Misleading
  Paxton says he’s protecting women from toxic products. He opened an investigation after winning the nomination, and nothing has come of it.

  The feminine-care investigation was announced in July 2026 with no lawsuit or findings since, and his Tylenol suit rests on an autism link medical groups dispute.
• Misleading
  Paxton says his lawsuits protect kids online. Several were filed days before his runoff, and courts blocked most of the law he enforces.

  Several suits were timed before his May 2026 runoff and most are unresolved; courts blocked most challenged parts of the SCOPE Act, and his biggest tech settlements went to the treasury.
• False
  His allies say he protects women and children. His record on their health care says otherwise.

  He sued to strike down the Affordable Care Act, fought a woman’s court-approved abortion, voted against children’s CHIP coverage, and his office offered one day in jail in a child sex-abuse case.
• Mostly false
  Paxton says he’ll rein in data centers. He voted for their tax break and took their donors’ money.

  He voted for the data-center tax exemption now costing billions, took at least $448,000 from data-center-linked donors, and his office stalled a county’s question about pausing them.
• Mostly false
  Paxton claims widespread noncitizen voting. After more than a year investigating, he had charged three people.

  By August 2026, NBC News found, Paxton had charged three people, and at least five of 53 people referred for investigation were listed as U.S. citizens in court records.

All claim checks  ·  His voting record in the Legislature