Ken Paxton

Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) 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.

Paxton was first elected attorney general in 2014 as a supporter of the Tea Party movement. Paxton was re-elected in 2018 and 2022.

Known for his strongly conservative views, Paxton has been described as a staunch ally of President Donald Trump. After Joe Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Trump refused to concede, Paxton supported efforts challenging the results. He filed the unsuccessful case Texas v. Pennsylvania in the U.S. Supreme Court and later spoke at the rally held by Trump in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. 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 related to activities before taking office; he pleaded not guilty. In 2025, after fulfilling a pretrial agreement, the charges were dismissed. In October 2020, several senior aides in Paxton's office accused him of "bribery, abuse of office and other crimes". In May 2023, the Texas House of Representatives impeached Paxton by a vote of 121–23, leading to his suspension from office. In September 2023, the Texas Senate voted 16–14 to acquit Paxton on all articles of impeachment, ending his suspension from office. In 2023, federal prosecutors opened a separate investigation into related allegations, but in 2025 the Department of Justice declined to pursue charges.

In April 2025, Paxton announced his candidacy for the 2026 United States Senate election in Texas, challenging incumbent senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary. Since neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the primary, there will be a runoff in May.