(CNN) – Ken Paxton has faced a slew of scandals leading up to his significant win on Tuesday in the Republican primary runoff for Senate in Texas.
Despite criminal charges and allegations of infidelity, the Texas attorney general has remained influential in state politics and has kept a close connection with President Donald Trump, who endorsed him just a week before his tough runoff against Sen. John Cornyn.
Paxton frequently dismisses the accusations against him as being politically motivated, and many of his backers are willing to ignore them because they appreciate his strong push for a conservative agenda as attorney general.
The controversies are likely to play a big role in the general election. The Democratic candidate, James Talarico, responded to Paxton’s rise as the GOP nominee by calling him “The Most Corrupt Politician in America.” The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee stated that Paxton is “so corrupt that even his own party tried to remove him from office,” referring to his impeachment by the state House in 2023.
Meanwhile, Republicans have indicated they want to keep attention on Talarico and press him on cultural issues. In his victory speech, Paxton labeled Talarico as the “most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated.”
Here’s an overview of Paxton’s controversies:
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Securities fraud charges
A few months after taking office as attorney general in 2015, Paxton was indicted on felony securities fraud charges in Texas for allegedly misleading investors years prior. He could have faced decades behind bars if found guilty. The case dragged on for nearly nine years, concluding with a pretrial agreement in March 2024 that required him to perform community service and pay restitution. Under this deal, Paxton did not have to enter any plea. During this time, he also dealt with a civil case based on similar claims from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That case was much shorter-lived; it was dismissed by a judge in 2016.Whistleblower lawsuit
In 2020, several top deputies of Paxton reported him to the FBI due to concerns he was misusing his position to assist an Austin real estate investor and political donor named Nate Paul. Some staff members resigned while four were fired and later sued Paxton under the Texas Whistleblower Act. Paxton fought hard against these former aides both legally and publicly, labeling them as “rogue” and disgruntled. In 2025, a judge from Travis County ruled that those former aides were wrongfully terminated and awarded them $6.6 million. Though he appealed this decision, he dropped it months later after announcing his Senate run. While an FBI investigation into these whistleblower claims took place against Paxton, the Justice Department chose not to prosecute during the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s term according to reports from Associated Press.Impeachment in Texas legislature
The allegations raised by whistleblowers played a key role in prompting the Texas House’s decision to impeach Paxton in 2023. The vote was overwhelmingly bipartisan and posed serious risks for his political future since conviction by the state Senate could lead to removal from office. However, after two weeks of trial proceedings, he was acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment accusing him of corruption and bribery. Only two GOP senators voted for any convictions among those articles. Trump openly urged senators to exonerate Paxton and repeatedly criticized Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan overseeing the impeachment process. Later Trump backed Phelan’s opponent during Phelan’s reelection primary. Phelan narrowly won but lost enough support within GOP ranks that he couldn’t return as speaker next legislative session.Allegations of infidelity
An article of impeachment accused Paxton of bribery because he “benefited from Nate Paul’s employment of a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair.” During trial testimony, one former chief aide revealed that Paxton admitted having an affair back in 2018. Paxston’s legal team didn’t directly counter this claim but minimized its significance regarding their defense strategy. “Imagine if we impeached everybody here in Austin that had had an affair,” said lawyer Tony Buzbee during trial discussions. “We’d be impeaching for the next 100 years wouldn’t we?” Paxston encountered another infidelity claim when last year his wife-state Sen. Angela Paxton-filed for divorce citing “biblical grounds.” He generally denied her court allegations but has mostly avoided addressing claims about infidelity throughout his campaign efforts. When attacks ramped up over alleged affairs during Cornyn’s campaign before primaries began escalating tensions further between candidates emerged with Paxston releasing ads featuring testimony about character offered by daughter instead.Source link
