Ken Paxton, the hard-right Texas attorney general and longtime magnet for scandal, is seeking to oust Senator John Cornyn in the Republican Senate runoff in Texas.
Here are five things to know about Mr. Paxton, 63, who narrowly trailed in the first round of primary voting in March.
1. He was recently endorsed by President Trump. Over the years, Mr. Paxton has led the legal charge on some of Mr. Trump’s top priorities, suing to overturn the 2020 election result and leading a push during the president’s first term to set aside the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Trump rewarded Mr. Paxton with an endorsement last week, issuing a statement hailing the candidate’s “loyalty.” The decision ended months of speculation about whether Mr. Trump, who had not picked a side in the initial round of voting, would weigh in on the race.
2. He survived an impeachment vote in the Texas Senate in 2023. Mr. Paxton, who had been suspended from office after being impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, was acquitted following a nine-day trial in the State Senate that had centered on accusations that he had abused his office to help a real estate investor. Republicans served as both the defense and the prosecution. The trial was intended to “settle political differences,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement at the time, declaring the process “immoral and corrupt.”
3. His divorce from Angela Paxton, a Republican state senator, drew widespread attention in Texas. They married in 1986. Last year, Ms. Paxton filed court papers claiming that Mr. Paxton had committed adultery. He responded by saying that the relationship had been strained by the pressure of public life; he requested privacy.
4. He rode into the Texas attorney general’s office on a Tea Party wave. Mr. Paxton, then a state senator, was first elected attorney general in 2014, beating a veteran state lawmaker and establishment favorite in a Republican primary runoff before cruising through the general election.
5. Scandal quickly followed him into office. Mr. Paxton had not spent eight months on the job when he was indicted on securities fraud charges. He was accused of encouraging investors to put money into a tech company without informing them he was making a commission on their investments. He pleaded not guilty.
The case took nearly a decade to resolve; it ended in 2024 when Mr. Paxton reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid a criminal trial. The agreement required Mr. Paxton to pay almost $300,000 in restitution but did not require any admission of guilt. Dan Cogdell, Mr. Paxton’s lawyer, said at the time, “There will never be an admission of guilt, because he’s not guilty.”
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