Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has built a political brand around cracking down on voter fraud, may have violated the same state election laws his office warns others about, according to an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Records obtained by the news organizations indicate that Paxton voted in six elections over the past two years while registered at a Collin County address where he no longer lives.
The potential legal exposure stems from a public split with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton. In divorce filings made in 2025, she accused him of adultery and stated that he moved out of their home in the northern Dallas suburb a year earlier. Despite this, Ken Paxton's voter registration continues to list the Collin County address. Reporting by ProPublica and the Tribune has linked him since February to a residence in neighboring Denton County.
What the Right Is Saying
Paxton's campaign dismissed the reporting as inaccurate. Campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy issued a statement saying the attorney general has been "a national leader on election integrity, with a long record of defending Texas elections." The statement called ProPublica and Tribune's reporting "baseless" and "not real reporting," though it did not specify what inaccuracies the campaign believed existed. When asked twice to identify specific factual errors, the campaign did not respond.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic critics point to what they describe as hypocrisy in the attorney general's actions. "He has prosecuted others for far less," said one Democratic election law specialist who asked not to be named to speak freely about an ongoing story. "The rhetoric from his office about election integrity is hollow if he himself isn't following the same rules." Voting rights advocates argue that no public official should be exempt from residency requirements, regardless of their record on voter fraud enforcement.
What the Numbers Show
Under Texas law, voting in an election when a voter is ineligible is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. However, state courts have repeatedly ruled that residency determinations require considering multiple factors, including where someone sleeps or stores personal belongings. Prosecution also requires proof that a voter "knowingly" or "intentionally" broke the law. Texas law does allow voters to remain registered if their absence is temporary and they intend to return, a provision commonly used by college students and military service members.
Three election lawyers consulted by ProPublica and the Tribune said Paxton may have violated state law. David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer for the Justice Department who now directs the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the circumstances would raise questions about whether the residency requirement was met.
The Bottom Line
Paxton's office and campaign did not answer detailed questions from reporters sent on June 3, 15 and 25. His campaign's only substantive response dismissed the story as inaccurate without identifying specific errors. Whether prosecutors will pursue any investigation into the attorney general's voting registration remains unclear. Such cases are rarely brought because residency claims are difficult to prove and require demonstrating intentional violation of law. Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in May's runoff election.