Rise to Success: Career Highlights of Ken Paxton
How Ken Paxton built a successful career. Explore key moments that defined the journey.
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is an American politician and lawyer, currently serving as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A Republican, he formerly served in the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives. Paxton has faced legal troubles, including securities fraud indictments and an impeachment trial centered on accusations of bribery and abuse of office, ultimately resulting in his acquittal.
1986: William Whitehurst's State Bar Presidency
In 1986, William Whitehurst served as the president of the State Bar of Texas.
1988: Returned to School
In 1988, Ken Paxton returned to school after working as a management consultant for two years.
1991: Worked at Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.
From 1991 to 1995, Ken Paxton worked at Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.
1995: Worked at J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
From 1995 to 2002, Ken Paxton worked at J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
1997: W. Frank Newton's State Bar Presidency
In 1997, W. Frank Newton served as the president of the State Bar of Texas.
1998: Richard Pena's State Bar Presidency
In 1998, Richard Pena served as the president of the State Bar of Texas.
November 4, 2002: Won Election to Texas House in District 70
On November 4, 2002, Ken Paxton won the election to the Texas House in District 70, receiving 28,012 votes against Fred Lusk and Robert Worthington.
2002: Left J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
In 2002, Ken Paxton left J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
2004: Voter Fraud Convictions in Texas
An analysis by KXAN found that 24 of 138 people convicted of voter fraud in Texas between 2004 and September 2020 spent time in jail.
2004: Re-elected to Texas House
In 2004, Ken Paxton won re-election against Democrat Martin Woodward in the Texas House, capturing 76% of the vote.
2006: Re-elected to Texas House
In 2006, Ken Paxton won re-election to the Texas House, defeating Rick Koster and Robert Virasin.
2010: Re-elected to Texas House Unopposed
In 2010, Ken Paxton ran unopposed for re-election to the Texas House.
2012: Won election to Texas Senate
After winning the 2012 election, Ken Paxton replaced Florence Shapiro in the Texas Senate.
2013: Joe Straus Re-elected as Speaker
In 2013, Joe Straus was re-elected as Speaker of the Texas House. Paxton had previously pulled out of the Speaker's race before the vote.
2013: Served in the Texas Senate
In 2013, Ken Paxton began serving in the Texas Senate, representing the eighth district.
March 4, 2014: Led Republican Primary for Attorney General
On March 4, 2014, Ken Paxton led the three-candidate field in the Republican primary for Texas Attorney General, polling 566,114 votes (44.4%).
May 27, 2014: Won Runoff Election for Attorney General
On May 27, 2014, Ken Paxton won the runoff election against Dan Branch to become the Republican nominee for Texas Attorney General, receiving 465,395 votes (63.63%).
January 5, 2015: Took Office as Attorney General
On January 5, 2015, Ken Paxton officially took office as the Attorney General of Texas.
January 2015: Term as Attorney General Began
In January 2015, Ken Paxton's term as Attorney General of Texas began.
July 28, 2015: Paxton Indicted on Criminal Charges
On July 28, 2015, Ken Paxton was indicted on three criminal charges by a state grand jury: two counts of securities fraud and one count of failing to register with state securities regulators. This marked the first such criminal indictment of a Texas Attorney General in thirty-two years.
2015: Joe Straus Re-elected as Speaker
In 2015, Joe Straus was re-elected as Speaker of the Texas House. Paxton had previously pulled out of the Speaker's race before the vote.
2015: Created Human Trafficking Unit
In 2015, Ken Paxton created a human trafficking unit in the AG office.
2015: Paxton Opposes Atheist Group's Legal Action
In 2015, Ken Paxton opposed an atheist group's legal action seeking a halt to the reading of religious prayers before school board meetings.
2015: Became Attorney General of Texas
In 2015, Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. assumed the role of attorney general of Texas.
October 6, 2016: Backpage.com Raid
On October 6, 2016, Ken Paxton and then California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that Texas authorities had raided the Dallas headquarters of Backpage.com and arrested CEO Carl Ferrer on felony charges.
December 2016: Paxton Intervenes in School Scripture Dispute
In December 2016, Ken Paxton gained attention after intervening in a dispute in Killeen, Texas, in which a middle school principal told a nurse's aide to take down a six-foot poster in the school containing a quote from Christian scripture. Paxton sided with the aide, who won in court.
2016: Paxton Sues Austin Over Handgun Carry
In 2016, Ken Paxton sued the City of Austin to allow license holders to openly carry handguns in Austin City Hall. Paxton prevailed, and the court ruled that Austin must allow such carry and pay a fine to the state for preventing investigators from the attorney general's office from carrying their firearms.
2016: Campaign Fundraising in 2016
In 2016, Ken Paxton's campaign raised $945,000 in the first half of the year, leaving him with just under $3 million in his campaign account for a potential 2018 re-election bid.
2016: Voter ID Law Struck Down
In 2017, the San Antonio Express-News criticized the state's voter identification law, which Paxton seeks to have reinstated after it was struck down by United States District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi. The judge found the measure in 2016 to be a violation of the Voting Rights Act.
2016: Paxton Investigates Texas Voting Records
In February 2017, as part of his "crusade" against voter fraud, Ken Paxton sought to investigate 2016 Texas voting records to uncover potential voter fraud.
February 2017: Paxton Investigates 2016 Texas Voting Records
In February 2017, as part of his "crusade" against voter fraud, Ken Paxton sought to investigate 2016 Texas voting records to uncover potential voter fraud. Also in February 2017, officials in Bexar County said there have been no major cases of voter fraud in San Antonio.
March 2017: Paxton Claims Voter Fraud Exists in Texas
In March 2017, Ken Paxton told The Washington Times that he was convinced that voter fraud exists in Texas, and claimed that local election officials in Texas were not actively detecting fraud.
May 2, 2017: ProPublica Article: No Evidence of Widespread Voter Fraud in Texas
According to a May 2, 2017 ProPublica article, there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas.
May 2017: AG's efforts to enact stricter voter ID laws are delayed
By May 2017, the Office of the AG's "efforts to enact and enforce the strictest voter ID law in the nation were so plagued by delays, revisions, court interventions and inadequate education that the casting of ballots in the 2016 election was inevitably troubled".
2017: Joe Straus Re-elected as Speaker
In 2017, Joe Straus was re-elected as Speaker of the Texas House. Paxton had previously pulled out of the Speaker's race before the vote.
2017: Defended Texas in Gerrymandering Lawsuit
In 2017, Ken Paxton defended Texas in a federal lawsuit involving allegations that Texas's congressional districts were gerrymandered, eventually winning on appeal at the Supreme Court.
2017: Paxton Objects to School's Prayer Room for Muslim Students
In 2017, Ken Paxton objected to a Texas school's use of an empty classroom to allow its Muslim students to pray, claiming that "the high school's prayer room is ... apparently excluding students of other faiths." School officials refuted this claim.
November 6, 2018: Won Re-election as Attorney General
On November 6, 2018, Ken Paxton won a second term as attorney general, narrowly defeating Justin Nelson and Michael Ray Harris.
2018: Angela Paxton Wins Senate Seat
In 2018, Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton's wife, won the District 8 seat in the Texas Senate.
2018: Potential 2018 Re-election Bid
In 2018, Ken Paxton had just under $3 million in his campaign account for a potential re-election bid.
2018: Dan Patrick Donates to Paxton's Reelection Campaign
In 2018, Republican Dan Patrick donated $125,000, and lent another $125,000, to Ken Paxton's close reelection campaign.
2018: Voter fraud cases worked on double in 2021
In 2021, Ken Paxton's office spent almost double the time working on voter fraud cases in 2021 as it did in 2018. It recorded spending over 22,000 staff hours on the task, but resolved only 16 prosecutions, half as many as two years prior.
2019: Quadrupled Human Trafficking Unit Funding
In 2019, Ken Paxton convinced Texas lawmakers to more than quadruple the human trafficking unit's annual funding.
May 2020: Paxton Opposes Expansion of Absentee Voting
In May 2020, Ken Paxton opposed an expansion of absentee voting to voters who lack immunity to COVID-19. He publicly contradicted a state district judge's ruling that such voters could apply for absentee ballots and persuaded the Texas Supreme Court to address the issue.
September 2020: KXAN Analyzes Voter Fraud Convictions
An analysis by KXAN found that 24 of 138 people convicted of voter fraud in Texas between 2004 and September 2020 spent time in jail.
December 8, 2020: Paxton Sues States Over Election Results
On December 8, 2020, Ken Paxton sued the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, alleging unconstitutional actions in their presidential balloting and asking the United States Supreme Court to invalidate the states' sixty-two electoral votes to allow Trump to be declared the winner. The case was quickly dismissed on December 11.
2020: Voter fraud cases looked at after the 2020 election
After the 2020 election, Ken Paxton's office spent more than 22,000 hours looking for voter fraud, finding only 16 cases of false addresses on registration forms out of nearly 17 million registered voters.
2020: Paxton Sues Harris County Clerk
During the 2020 election season, Ken Paxton sued Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins to block him from sending applications for absentee ballots to the county's 2.4 million registered voters. The Texas Supreme Court reversed lower court decisions and directed the trial court to enter an injunction against Hollins.
2020: Paxton Sues Federal Government Over Spending Law
In 2023, Ken Paxton sued the federal government in Texas v. Garland, asserting that a $1.7 trillion federal spending law passed by Congress for fiscal year 2023 is invalid because of the lack of a physical quorum in the U.S. House of Representatives at the time of the bill's passage. Paxton argued that the House's decision in 2020 to allow the use of proxy voting during the COVID-19 pandemic was unconstitutional.
2020: Paxton Claims Biden "Overthrew" Trump
In October 2021, Ken Paxton falsely claimed that Joe Biden "overthrew" Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
July 9, 2021: The Guardian reports on Paxton's pursuit of election-related crimes
On July 9, 2021, The Guardian reported that few prosecutors have pursued election-related crimes more than Ken Paxton.
July 11, 2021: NYT reports on Paxton's focus on voter fraud
On July 11, 2021, The New York Times reported that while voter fraud is very rare in the United States, Ken Paxton made it a mission as attorney general to lay voter-charge charges.
July 2021: Paxton Orders Arrest of Hervis Rogers
In July 2021, Ken Paxton ordered the arrest of Hervis Rogers, a Black man who voted in the March 2020 Democratic presidential primary election while on parole, which is a second-degree felony in Texas. Rogers was unaware of his ineligibility to vote.
October 2021: Paxton Claims Biden "Overthrew" Trump
In October 2021, Ken Paxton falsely claimed that Joe Biden "overthrew" Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
2021: Voter fraud cases worked on double than in 2018
In 2021, Ken Paxton's office spent almost double the time working on voter fraud cases in 2021 as it did in 2018. It recorded spending over 22,000 staff hours on the task, but resolved only 16 prosecutions, half as many as two years prior.
2021: Paxton's Voter Fraud Unit Budget
In 2021, Ken Paxton's voter fraud investigation unit had a budget of $1.9 million to $2.2 million. By the end of the year, the office had closed only three cases of fraud.
November 8, 2022: Won Third Term as Attorney General
On November 8, 2022, Ken Paxton won the Attorney General of Texas office for the third time.
2022: Charges Against Hervis Rogers Dismissed
In 2022, the charges against Hervis Rogers were dismissed after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Paxton had no authority to unilaterally charge Texans with election crimes.
February 2023: Paxton Requests More Funds
In late February 2023, Ken Paxton asked the Appropriations subcommittee of the Texas House of Representatives to provide more taxpayer funds to his office, including the full amount of the intended $3.3 million settlement of the lawsuit brought by whistleblowers from his office.
March 2023: Texas House Investigating Committee Investigates Paxton
In March 2023, the Texas House General Investigating Committee began to investigate Ken Paxton.
May 2023: Texas House Committee States Settlement Triggered Investigation
In May 2023, the Texas House General Investigating Committee stated that "Paxton's own request for taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct" triggered the investigation for impeachment.
May 27, 2023: Paxton Impeached by Texas House
On May 27, 2023, Ken Paxton was impeached by the Texas House with a vote of 121-23, resulting in his suspension from office pending a Senate trial. Brent Webster became the acting attorney general until Governor Abbott appointed John B. Scott as interim attorney general three days later. Paxton's salary was suspended during this time.
September 16, 2023: Paxton Acquitted in Impeachment Trial
On September 16, 2023, Ken Paxton was acquitted in the Texas Senate of all articles of impeachment. The acquittal cleared the path for Paxton to resume his duties as attorney general.
2023: Paxton Sues Federal Government Over Spending Law
In 2023, Ken Paxton sued the federal government in Texas v. Garland, asserting that a $1.7 trillion federal spending law passed by Congress for fiscal year 2023 is invalid because of the lack of a physical quorum in the U.S. House of Representatives at the time of the bill's passage.
2024: Paxton Raids Latino Voting Activists' Offices
In 2024, a unit created by Ken Paxton raided the offices of Latino voting activists, seizing cellphones, computers, and documents as part of a voter fraud inquiry. LULAC described the raids as an attempt to suppress Latino voters.
April 8, 2025: Announced Candidacy for U.S. Senate on Ingraham Angle
On April 8, 2025, Ken Paxton announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Senator John Cornyn, on the Ingraham Angle show.
April 2025: Announced Candidacy for U.S. Senate
In April 2025, Ken Paxton announced his candidacy for the United States Senate, challenging incumbent John Cornyn.
2026: Challenging John Cornyn in the 2026 election
In 2026, Ken Paxton is challenging incumbent John Cornyn for the United States Senate.
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