Ken Paxton

Rule Changes

Blocked Biden-era DOJ monitoring in 2024

The Justice Department deployed about 1,000 election monitors to more than 120 jurisdictions in all 50 states on Nov. 3, the largest monitoring effort in its history. The list included New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and several New Jersey counties, and it was the first time the department sent observers to every state. A Washington Post analysis found nearly two-thirds of the selected jurisdictions have consistently voted Democratic.

Updated 2 days ago

Rule Changes

Sued Houston in April over its ICE ordinance; no statement on the new order reported

Houston police will no longer call federal immigration agents when they stop someone for a minor traffic violation. Mayor John Whitmire's Nov. 6 executive order, numbered 1-74, lets officers contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement only if the person is already going to jail on new charges or other warrants and a records check shows an administrative ICE warrant.

Updated 3 days ago

Rule Changes

Lost Senate race to Talarico; congratulated him and said he will pray for him

James Talarico, a 37-year-old state legislator and former middle school teacher, beat Republican Ken Paxton in Texas's Senate race on November 3, 2026. Final returns showed Talarico with 55.1% to Paxton's 43%, a 12.1-point margin and the first Democratic Senate win in Texas since 1988.

Updated 5 days ago

Rule Changes

Lost Texas Senate race to James Talarico

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress on Nov. 3, 2026, flipping at least seven Senate seats and more than two dozen House districts, the Associated Press reported. The Senate wins included Kansas and Texas, where Democrats had not won Senate seats since 1932 and 1988, and South Carolina, where Annie Andrews was projected to become the state's first Democratic senator in almost three decades.

Updated 6 days ago

Rule Changes

Secured liability ruling; opposing TikTok's bid for a longer stay after the appellate court paused the case

A Texas judge ruled on September 10 that TikTok misled users about how it filters content for children. Judge Cory Liu found the company violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by marking some banned videos "hard to find" instead of removing them, and by promoting a Restricted Mode that did not block mature content as promised.

Updated Oct 25

Money Moves

As of September 2026: In competitive race against Democrat James Talarico

Republican outside groups sat on their money for months. On September 18, NPR reported that two Trump-aligned super PACs have now reserved more than $150 million in ads, mostly in deep-red House and Senate races that unexpectedly became competitive.

Updated Sep 18

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Lead defender of the map in federal litigation

States usually redraw congressional districts once a decade, after the census. Texas just redrew its map four years early—and the U.S. Supreme Court has now cleared it for the 2026 midterm elections.

Updated May 31

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Leading aggressive state-level privacy enforcement

California passed the first comprehensive state privacy law in 2018. Eight years later, twenty states have followed, creating a regulatory patchwork that now covers roughly half the American population. Indiana, Kentucky, and Rhode Island's laws took effect January 1, 2026, joining a wave of amendments and enforcement actions that force every consumer-facing app to reckon with data collection practices.

Updated May 27

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Defending multiple tech regulation laws in federal court

A federal judge blocked Texas from forcing Apple and Google to verify every app store user's age, calling the law akin to requiring ID checks at bookstore doors. This December 2024 ruling is the latest defeat in a wave of state attempts to age-gate the internet.

Updated May 16

Built World

As of May 2026: Suing Xcel unit over 2024 Smokehouse Creek wildfire

Xcel Energy's deliberate blackout on Colorado's Front Range didn't end neatly when the wind eased. By the time crews could start patrols, the first PSPS was entangled with widespread storm damage. Xcel said total weather-related outages reached about 120,000—far beyond the roughly 50,000 customers initially targeted for de-energization.

Updated May 15