Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has built much of his political career on prosecuting voter fraud, is facing allegations that he himself violated election law by voting in six consecutive elections from an address where he no longer lived. The Democratic candidate challenging him for U.S. Senate, state Rep. James Talarico, is now turning that accusation against Paxton as a central argument in the race to replace retiring Sen. John Cornyn.
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reported that Paxton moved out of the home he shared with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, in 2024 but continued voting using that Collin County address through the March Republican primary in which he defeated Cornyn. Three election experts told the news organizations that Paxton may have violated state law by casting ballots from an address at which he no longer resided.
What the Right Is Saying
Paxton's campaign has not directly responded to questions about his voter registration or residency. At a rare news conference Tuesday, Paxton instead focused on touting the endorsement of nearly two dozen Texas sheriffs and attacked Talarico as soft on crime.
When a Dallas Morning News political writer asked Paxton why he voted in Collin County, the attorney general shook his head as a campaign aide interceded. "We're just going to answer questions on question on law enforcement today," the aide said. Neither Paxton's office nor his campaign responded to similar questions from ProPublica and the Tribune on subsequent days, nor did they respond to inquiries about Talarico's comments.
At his own news conference Wednesday, Talarico rejected Paxton's soft-on-crime characterization, noting he had voted for billions of dollars in law enforcement funding during his time in the Texas Legislature. The attack marks a notable reversal, given that Paxton himself faces ongoing legal challenges including the legacy of his 2023 impeachment.
What the Left Is Saying
State Rep. James Talarico used a campaign event in Houston to directly confront the allegations against his opponent. "As our state's attorney general, Ken Paxton has gone on a voter fraud witch hunt," Talarico said. "Turns out, he was committing voter fraud the whole time, voting illegally in six elections in a row from the wrong address."
The Collin County Democratic Party filed a formal complaint with the Texas secretary of state last week, urging an investigation into Paxton for potential election fraud. Collin County Democratic Party Vice Chair Mary Higbe said the secretary of state's office told her in an email that the complaint "remains under review by one of our staff attorneys."
Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson said the reporting about Paxton's voting practices may resonate with voters because it reinforces longstanding accusations that he has used his office for personal gain. That narrative was central to the Texas Legislature's 2023 impeachment proceedings against Paxton on bribery and corruption charges, from which the state Senate acquitted him. "There's been a whole series of legal challenges he's been able to slip out of, but voters are at least vaguely aware of them," Jillson said. "This is just another example of playing fast and loose with a law you must be familiar with as attorney general."
University of Texas at San Antonio political science professor Jon Taylor characterized the lack of response from Republican-led state agencies as suggesting an effort to slow-walk any investigation into Paxton. "You push the idea that you're going to be really tough on election wrongdoing, and yet here you are with allegations in which you seem to be uninterested in pursuing," Taylor said. "That smacks of rank hypocrisy."
What the Numbers Show
The reporting by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune documents that Paxton voted from an address at which he no longer lived in six consecutive elections beginning in 2024. Election lawyers told the news organizations that while Texas law permits voters to cast ballots using an address where they do not reside if they intend to return, such exceptions typically apply to circumstances like attending college out of area or military service. The lawyers noted it would be difficult for Paxton to make such a claim given his ongoing public and acrimonious divorce proceedings.
Under state law, the secretary of state is required to "promptly" refer complaints to the attorney general if there is "reasonable cause to suspect that criminal conduct occurred." However, Secretary of State Jane Nelson's last day in office was Friday, three days after the complaint was filed. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed one of his senior advisers, Robert Howden, to replace her. The secretary of state's office has declined to answer reporter questions about the timeline for any investigation.
The Bottom Line
The allegations against Paxton arrive at a sensitive moment in his political career as he transitions from statewide executive office to a federal legislative race. Whether the voter registration controversy gains traction with Texas voters remains to be seen, but Talarico has clearly decided to make it a central contrast between the two candidates.
What happens next depends largely on whether the secretary of state's office moves forward with the complaint filed by the Collin County Democratic Party, and if so, how the attorney general's own office handles a case that would involve investigating its top elected official. Given that Paxton's office has not responded to questions about receiving the complaint or potentially hiring a special prosecutor, the timeline for any resolution remains unclear. Watch for whether other Republican officials in Texas distance themselves from Paxton on this issue, and whether Talarico continues to press the voter fraud allegations in campaign appearances ahead of the Senate race.