Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the eighth district and as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.
Known for his strongly conservative views, Paxton has been described as a staunch ally of President Donald Trump. Paxton was first elected attorney general in 2014, rising to power as an ally of the Tea Party movement, and has been described as ultraconservative and far-right. Paxton was re-elected in 2018 and 2022.
After Joe Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Donald Trump refused to concede while making unfounded claims of election fraud, Paxton aided Trump in his efforts to overturn the result. He filed the unsuccessful Texas v. Pennsylvania case in the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke at the rally Trump held on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Throughout the course of Biden's presidency, Paxton pursued legal action against the administration 106 times.
In 2015, Paxton was indicted on state securities fraud charges relating to activities before taking office; he pleaded not guilty. Upon fulfilling a pretrial agreement for restitution to the victims, ethics training, and community service the charges were dismissed in 2025. In October 2020, several high-level assistants in Paxton's office accused him of "bribery, abuse of office and other crimes". In May 2023 Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives by a vote of 121–23, leading to his suspension. The articles of impeachment included allegations that Paxton gave preferential treatment to a political donor who bribed him, misapplied public resources and made false statements against whistleblowers, obstructed justice in the securities fraud trial against him, and made false statements regarding his financial interests. In September 2023, the Texas Senate voted 16–14 to acquit Paxton of all articles of impeachment, ending his suspension from office. After a separate investigation into the same legal issues by federal prosecutors beginning in 2023, the Department of Justice declined to prosecute Paxton on any charges.
On April 8, 2025, Paxton announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in the 2026 election, challenging incumbent senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary.
Early life and education
Paxton was born on Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, where his father was stationed while in the United States Air Force. His parents and their three children lived in a trailer, often without air conditioning, parked outside wherever his father was temporarily stationed. At various times, they lived in Florida, New York, North Carolina, California, and Oklahoma. A lifelong football fan, Paxton carried a jersey autographed by Bill Bates, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys. Bates later was named Paxton's campaign treasurer.At the age of twelve, Paxton nearly lost an eye in a game of hide-and-seek; a misdiagnosis led to long-term problems with his vision. As a result, his good eye is green; his damaged one is brown and droopy. He further injured his eye while in college.
Paxton received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1985 and an MBA in 1986, both from Baylor University. At that university, he was elected president of the student government. Paxton then worked for two years as a management consultant before returning to school in 1988. In 1991, he received a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Paxton worked at Strasburger & Price, LLP, from 1991 to 1995 and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. from 1995 to 2002.
Texas legislature
House of Representatives (2003–2013)
In 2002, Paxton ran in the Republican primary for the Texas House in District 70. He captured 39.45% of the vote and moved into a runoff with Bill Vitz, whom he then defeated with 64% of the vote. He went on to face Fred Lusk and Robert Worthington for the newly redistricted open seat. On November 4, 2002, Paxton won with 28,012 votes to Lusk's 7,074 votes and Worthington's 600 votes.Paxton won reelection against Democrat Martin Woodward in 2004. Paxton captured 76% of the vote, or 58,520 votes, compared with 18,451 votes for Woodward. Paxton won reelection in 2006, defeating Rick Koster and Robert Virasin. Paxton received 30,062 votes to Koster's 12,265 votes and Virasin's 1,222 votes. Paxton won reelection by again defeating Robert Virasin, 73,450 votes to 11,751 votes. Paxton ran unopposed for reelection in 2010.
After getting reelected, Paxton ran for speaker of the Texas House of Representatives against fellow Republicans Joe Straus of District 121 in Bexar County and Warren Chisum of District 88 in Pampa, Texas. Paxton said that if elected speaker, he would take "bold action in defense of our conservative values". Sensing certain defeat, Paxton pulled out of the speaker's race before the vote. Paxton was endorsed by HuckPAC, the official political action committee of Mike Huckabee, and was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund. Straus was elected to his second term as speaker and was reelected in 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Texas Senate (2013–2015)
After winning the 2012 election, Paxton replaced the retiring Florence Shapiro in the Texas Senate. He served from 2013 until January 2015, when his term as attorney general began.Attorney general of Texas (2015–present)
Elections
2014
Paxton became a candidate for Texas attorney general when the incumbent Greg Abbott decided to run for governor to succeed the retiring Rick Perry. Paxton led a three-candidate field in the Republican primary held on March 4, 2014, polling 566,114 votes. State representative Dan Branch of Dallas County received 426,595 votes. Eliminated in the primary was Texas Railroad commissioner Barry Smitherman of Austin, who polled the remaining 281,064. Paxton faced Dan Branch in the runoff election on May 27, 2014, and won with 465,395 votes. Branch received 265,963 votes.In the November 4, 2014, general election, Paxton defeated Democrat Sam Houston, an attorney from Houston.
Paxton took office on January 5, 2015. Paxton's campaign raised $945,000 in the first half of 2016, leaving Paxton with just under $3 million in his campaign account for a potential 2018 re-election bid.
Paxton won the attorney general's election without the endorsement of a single Texas newspaper.
2018
In 2018, Paxton ran unopposed for reelection in the Republican primary. Having received the endorsement of U.S. president Donald Trump, Paxton won a second term as attorney general in the general election on November 6, 2018, narrowly defeating Democratic nominee Justin Nelson, a lawyer, and Libertarian Party nominee Michael Ray Harris by a margin of 4,173,538 to 3,874,096 and Harris receiving 2.4%. Justin Nelson's campaign ad for attorney general included surveillance video from the Collin County courthouse in 2012, showing Paxton taking a Montblanc pen worth $1,000, which had been accidentally left behind at a metal detector by fellow lawyer Joe Joplin. The pen was later returned "when the error was realized", said a spokesman for Paxton.2022
The 2022 Texas attorney general election took place on November 8, 2022, with Paxton winning the office for the third time. Paxton had advanced to the November 8 general election after winning primary contests on March 1 and May 24.2026
On April 8, 2025, Paxton went on the Ingraham Angle show to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Senator John Cornyn.Political positions
Abortion
Paxton supports bans on access to abortion. He gave his employees a paid vacation day to celebrate the overturning of Roe v. Wade.Paxton has sought to block rules from the US Health and Human Services Department that would require hospitals to provide abortions to women when the procedure is necessary to save their lives.
After Texas judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled that Kate Cox, a pregnant woman whose fetus had the trisomy 18 condition, qualified for an abortion under the medical exemption provision in Texas law, Paxton in December 2023 called the judge an "activist" that was "not medically qualified" to make this ruling, threatened to prosecute doctors if they performed an abortion on Cox, and stated that Texas hospitals that allowed Cox's abortion could "be liable for negligent credentialing" the abortion-performing doctor. Paxton appealed Gamble's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, arguing that "how long the child is expected to live" was irrelevant to the case, and that Cox had not proven that the pregnancy threatened her life. The Supreme Court paused Gamble's ruling, leading to Cox leaving Texas to obtain an abortion; later the Texas Supreme Court ruled against Cox, stating that even though her pregnancy was "extremely complicated", even "serious" pregnancy difficulties do not meet Texas' medical exemption provision.
Paxton sued to block emergency abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Judge James Wesley Hendrix blocked the guidance which was appealed to the supreme court in Moyle v. United States.
Paxton sued to block the 2024 Privacy Rule which prohibits disclosing health information to investigate the act of seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating reproductive health care.
Paxton sued a New York doctor for providing "abortion-inducing drugs" to a Texas resident.
Paxton joined 14 other AG's "urging Congress to consider taking action preempting abortion shield laws".