Ken Paxton May Have Broken Same Texas Election Laws He Wants To Tighten, Bombshell Report Finds

(AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

The Texas Tribune reported on Tuesday that Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in the state, may have broken the very voter registration laws he’s seeking to tighten.

Zach Despart, who writes for both the Tribune and ProPublica, found that “Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years, including in May’s runoff that made him the Republican nominee for U.S. senator, according to records.”

Paxton is currently going through a divorce, initiated by his wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton (R) – who accused the social conservative of adultery in her filing. Ken Paxton continued to use his wife’s address to vote in recent elections, noted Despart, despite having moved out of the residence a year prior. The report added:

It is unclear where Paxton has lived for the past two years, but reporting by ProPublica and the Tribune has linked him to a home in neighboring Denton County since February.

Three election lawyers told the news organizations that Paxton may have violated the same Texas laws his office cautioned about in its news release.

Earlier in the year, Paxton announced a new tipline to combat suspected voter fraud. “Free and fair elections are a cornerstone of a thriving republic, and with the authority granted to my office by the Legislature, we will stop at nothing to uncover and stop any illegal voting activity,” Paxton’s office wrote in a February statement.

Despart noted that Paxton’s tip line statement linked to guidance from his office about election laws, which declared “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records or to establish a residence for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election.”

“You must register to vote using the address where you reside,” added the guidance in no uncertain terms.

Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy did not reply to the Tribune, but instead released a statement attacking the report after being contacted by Despart. Cercy’s statement called Paxton “a national leader on election integrity, with a long record of defending Texas elections” and added that “attempting to insinuate otherwise and tear him down with a baseless, lie-filled tabloid story is not real reporting.”

Paxton has long been plagued by scandal and was impeached by the Republican-led Texas House of Representatives before being acquitted by the state Senate, related to allegations of corruption and selling the powers of his office.

President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who was widely seen as the stronger general election candidate. Paxton faces Democratic Party state Rep. James Talarico in the November general election.

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