Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the 51st attorney general of Texas since 2015. He is the Republican Party nominee in the 2026 United States Senate election in Texas.
Born in Minot, North Dakota, Paxton was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013 and represented the eighth district in the Texas Senate from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, Paxton was indicted on state securities fraud charges relating to activities before taking office; he pleaded not guilty. After Paxton fulfilled a pretrial agreement for restitution to the victims, ethics training, and community service, the charges were dismissed in 2025. In May 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives by a vote of 121–23, leading to his suspension. The articles of impeachment included allegations that Paxton gave preferential treatment to a political donor who bribed him, misapplied public resources and made false statements against whistleblowers, obstructed justice in the securities fraud trial against him, and made false statements regarding his financial interests. In September 2023, the Texas Senate voted 16–14 to acquit Paxton of all articles of impeachment, ending his suspension from office.
An ultraconservative or far-right politician,Multiple sources: Kate McGee, "As attorney general, Paxton's ideological crusades have drowned out his day job" , Texas Tribune (May 27, 2023): "Undeterred by accusations of securities fraud, misuse of his political office and bribery, Paxton relentlessly pursued first a far-right agenda." Paxton is a staunch ally of President Donald Trump. After Joe Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Trump refused to concede while making false claims of election fraud, Paxton aided Trump in his efforts to overturn the result. He filed the unsuccessful Texas v. Pennsylvania case in the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke at the rally Trump held on January 6, 2021 that preceded the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Throughout the course of Biden's presidency, Paxton pursued legal action against the administration 106 times.
In April 2025, Paxton announced that he would run for the United States Senate in the 2026 election in Texas, challenging incumbent senator John Cornyn. Following a primary election, Paxton defeated Cornyn in a runoff for the Republican nomination. He will face Democrat James Talarico in the general election.
Early life and education
Paxton was born on Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, where his father was stationed while in the United States Air Force. His parents and their three children lived in a trailer parked outside wherever his father was temporarily stationed. They lived in Florida, New York, North Carolina, California, and Oklahoma. He graduated from MacArthur High School in Lawton, Oklahoma.
At the age of twelve, Paxton nearly lost an eye in a game of hide-and-seek; a misdiagnosis led to long-term problems with his vision. As a result, his good eye is green; his damaged one is brown and droopy. He further injured his eye while in college.
Paxton received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1985 and an MBA in 1986, both from Baylor University. He was elected president of the student government. In 1991, he received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. After graduating from law school, he worked at the law firm of Strasburger & Price and as in-house counsel for J.C. Penney. In 2002, he opened his own law practice, specializing in estate planning, probate matters and real estate.
Political career
Texas House of Representatives (2003–2013)
In 2002, Paxton ran in the Republican primary for the Texas House in District 70. He captured 39.45% of the vote and moved into a runoff with Bill Vitz, whom he then defeated with 64% of the vote. He faced Fred Lusk (D) and Robert Worthington (L) for the newly redistricted open seat. On November 4, 2002, Paxton won with 28,012 votes to Lusk's 7,074 votes and Worthington's 600 votes.
Paxton won reelection against Democrat Martin Woodward in 2004, receiving 76% of the vote, or 58,520 votes, compared with 18,451 votes for Woodward. Paxton won reelection in 2006, defeating Rick Koster (D) and Robert Virasin (L). Paxton received 30,062 votes to Koster's 12,265 votes and Virasin's 1,222 votes. Paxton won reelection by again defeating Robert Virasin (L), 73,450 votes to 11,751 votes. Paxton ran unopposed for reelection in 2010.
In 2010, Paxton ran for speaker of the Texas House of Representatives against fellow Republicans Joe Straus of District 121 in Bexar County and Warren Chisum of District 88 in Pampa, Texas. Paxton said that if elected speaker, he would take "bold action in defense of our conservative values". Sensing certain defeat, Paxton pulled out of the speaker's race before the vote. Paxton was endorsed by HuckPAC, the political action committee of Mike Huckabee, and was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund. Straus was elected to his second term as speaker and was reelected in 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Texas Senate (2013–2015) After winning the 2012 election, Paxton replaced the retiring Florence Shapiro in the Texas Senate. He served from 2013 until January 2015, when his term as attorney general began.
Attorney General of Texas (2015–present)
Elections 2014
Paxton became a candidate for Texas attorney general when the incumbent Greg Abbott decided to run for governor. Paxton led a three-candidate field in the Republican primary on March 4, 2014, polling 566,114 votes (44.4%). State representative Dan Branch of Dallas County received 426,595 votes (33.5 percent), and Texas Railroad commissioner Barry Smitherman polled the remaining 281,064 (22.1 percent). Paxton faced Branch in the runoff election on May 27, 2014, and won with 465,395 votes (63.63 percent). Branch received 265,963 votes (36.36 percent).Grissom, Brandi. "Tea Party Conservatives Win Top GOP Runoff Contests" , Texas Tribune, May 28, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
In the November 4, 2014, general election, Paxton defeated Democrat Sam Houston, an attorney from Houston.Philip Balli, "Two vie for state AG post", Laredo Morning Times, October 16, 2014, p. 3A
Paxton took office on January 5, 2015. Paxton's campaign raised $945,000 in the first half of 2016, leaving Paxton with just under $3 million in his campaign account for a potential 2018 re-election bid.
Paxton won the attorney general's election without the endorsement of a single Texas newspaper.
2018
In 2018, Paxton ran unopposed for reelection in the Republican primary. Having received the endorsement of U.S. president Donald Trump, Paxton won a second term as attorney general in the general election on November 6, 2018, narrowly defeating Democratic nominee Justin Nelson, a lawyer, and Libertarian Party nominee Michael Ray Harris by a margin of 4,173,538 (50.6 percent) to 3,874,096 (47 percent) and Harris receiving 2.4%.Election Returns. Texas Secretary of State (November 6, 2018). Retrieved on November 10, 2018. Justin Nelson's campaign ad for attorney general included surveillance video from the Collin County courthouse in 2012, showing Paxton taking a Montblanc pen worth $1,000, which had been accidentally left behind at a metal detector by fellow lawyer Joe Joplin. The pen was later returned "when the error was realized", said a spokesman for Paxton.
2022
The 2022 Texas attorney general election took place on November 8, 2022, with Paxton winning a third term defeating Democratic candidate and immigration lawyer Rochelle Mercedes Garza. Paxton had advanced to the November 8 general election after a contested four-way primary contest on March 1 which resulted in no candidate receiving a majority and resulted in a May 24 runoff between Paxton and Texas's Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
2026 U.S. Senate campaign
On April 8, 2025, Paxton went on the Fox News program The Ingraham Angle to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Senator John Cornyn. The primary occurred on March 3, 2026. His opponents were Cornyn and U.S. representative for Texas's 38th congressional district Wesley Hunt. Paxton advanced to the runoff against Cornyn after neither received 50% of the vote.
The runoff occurred on May 26, and, having secured President Donald Trump's endorsement, Paxton defeated Cornyn by more than 25 points. Despite being outspent nine to one by Cornyn, Paxton became the first individual in 56 years to win a primary against a sitting Texas senator. He will face state representative James Talarico in November.
Political positions
Paxton and his top donors have been characterized as leaders of the political far-right in Texas.
Abortion
Paxton supports bans on access to abortion. He gave his employees a paid vacation day to celebrate the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Paxton has sought to block rules from the Department of Health and Human Services that would require hospitals to provide abortions to women when the procedure is necessary to save their lives.
Paxton sued to block emergency abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Judge James Wesley Hendrix blocked the guidance which was appealed to the Supreme Court in Moyle v. United States.
After Texas judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled that Kate Cox, a pregnant woman whose fetus had the trisomy 18 condition, qualified for an abortion under the medical exemption provision in Texas law, Paxton in December 2023 called the judge an "activist" who was "not medically qualified" to make this ruling, threatened to prosecute doctors if they performed an abortion on Cox, and stated that Texas hospitals that allowed Cox's abortion could "be liable for negligent credentialing" the abortion-performing doctor. Paxton appealed Gamble's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, arguing that "how long the child is expected to live" was irrelevant to the case, and that Cox had not proven that the pregnancy threatened her life. The Supreme Court paused Gamble's ruling, leading to Cox leaving Texas to obtain an abortion; later the Texas Supreme Court ruled against Cox, stating that even though her pregnancy was "extremely complicated", even "serious" pregnancy difficulties do not meet Texas's medical exemption provision.
Paxton sued to block the 2024 Privacy Rule, which prohibits disclosing health information to investigate the act of seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating reproductive health care.
Paxton sued a New York doctor for providing "abortion-inducing drugs" to a Texas resident.
Paxton joined 14 other AG's "urging Congress to consider taking action preempting abortion shield laws".
Alleged evasion of service of subpoena In 2022, Paxton was sued by Fund Texas Choice, a non-profit organization aiming to prevent Paxton from prosecuting people who assist Texans to receive out-of-state abortions. In September 2022, a process server alleged in an affidavit for the court that when he attempted to serve a subpoena to Paxton at his home, he saw Paxton coming to the door but turning back; Paxton's wife answered the door saying Paxton was on the phone, with the process server stating that he had important legal documents for Paxton; Paxton left the house an hour later but ran back into the house when the process server called his name; minutes later Paxton ran out of the house and left in a truck driven by his wife, ignoring the process server stating his intentions. Paxton responded claiming that the process server "yelled unintelligibly, and charged toward me. I perceived this person to be a threat", while further stating that the process server "is lucky this situation did not escalate further or necessitate force".
Affordable Care Act
Paxton initiated a lawsuit seeking to have the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) ruled unconstitutional in its entirety.
Animal welfare