{"id":2425595,"date":"2025-04-21T06:26:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T10:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paxton-appears-to-flout-state-ethics-law-in-senate-campaign-ad-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T06:32:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T10:32:05","slug":"paxton-appears-to-flout-state-ethics-law-in-senate-campaign-ad-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paxton-appears-to-flout-state-ethics-law-in-senate-campaign-ad-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Paxton appears to flout state ethics law in Senate campaign ad &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpaxton-appears-to-flout-state-ethics-law-in-senate-campaign-ad-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2425595&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, is facing scrutiny for potential violations of Texas ethics laws related to his campaign launch for John Cornyn\u2019s Senate seat. His campaign video reportedly utilized public resources, including the uniforms of police officers from Collin County, which typically contravenes state regulations against using government resources for political advertising, as affirmed by the Texas Ethics Commission. The uniforms, being government-issued, could imply an endorsement of Paxton, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/billionaire-mega-donor-at-center-of-hunter-biden-art-sales-raises-ethics-concerns\/\" title=\"Billionaire Mega-Donor At Center Of Hunter Biden Art Sales Raises Ethics Concerns\">raising ethical concerns<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The race is expected to turn contentious and expensive,with both Paxton and Cornyn emphasizing their conservative credentials and ties to former President Donald Trump.Past campaigns have also encountered similar allegations regarding the misuse of public resources. The Texas Ethics Commission may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-disclosure-of-silent-fbi-raid-on-bidens-office-shows-deep-state-at-work\/\" title=\"New Disclosure Of Silent FBI Raid On Biden\u2019s ... Shows Deep State At Work\">investigate potential violations<\/a>, which can result in civil fines, even though enforcement of such laws has been historically lax. The article underscores ongoing ethical dilemmas in political campaigns and the contentious nature of Texas Senate races.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Ken Paxton may have run afoul of Texas ethics laws with Senate campaign launch<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2087288\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ken-paxton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Ken Paxton\">Ken Paxton<\/a>, the Texas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ag-barr-authorizes-federal-prosecutors-to-pursue-substantial-allegations-of-voting-irregularities-before-2020-election-is-certified\/\" title=\"BREAKING: AG Barr Authorizes Federal Prosecutors to Pursue &quot;Substantial Allegations&quot; of Voting Irregularities Before 2020 Election is Certified\">attorney general<\/a> running for Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"John Cornyn\">John Cornyn<\/a>&lsquo;s (R-TX) seat, appears to have violated the Lone Star State&rsquo;s ethics laws by using public resources in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republican-sean-parnell-army-veteran-and-former-congressional-candidate-announces-run-for-u-s-senate-in-pennsylvania\/\" title=\"Republican Sean Parnell, Army Veteran And Former Congressional Candidate, Announces Run For U.S. ... In Pennsylvania\">campaign launch ad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The video features uniformed police officers from the Dallas suburb of Collin County, Texas, a move the Texas Ethics Commission told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> would typically be against its code barring the use of government resources for political advertising.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3385647\/jeffries-sanders-aoc-fight-oligarchy-tour-right-versus-wrong\/\">Jeffries claims Sanders and AOC&#8217;s &#8216;Fight Oligarchy&#8217; tour is about &#8216;right versus wrong&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3385440\/michigan-set-up-battleground-future-of-democratic-party\/\">Michigan set up to be battleground for future of Democratic party<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3383431\/lisa-murkowski-very-anxious-retaliation-trump-administration\/\">Lisa Murkowski admits being &#8216;very anxious&#8217; about &#8216;retaliation&#8217; under Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The race between Paxton and Cornyn has quickly turned ugly and will likely be one of the most<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3375719\/ted-cruz-no-support-senate-colleague-john-cornyn-texas-primary-divisions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"bitter and expensive Republican primaries\"> expensive Republican primaries<\/a> of the 2026 elections, as the two flex their conservative chops and ties to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton&rsquo;s Senate launch video from April 9 includes footage of him conversing with uniformed Collin County constables from Precincts 1 and 4, clips that were also previously used in his campaign for attorney general.<\/p>\n<p>Texas&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ethics.state.tx.us\/statutes\/title15.php#chap255\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">election law<\/a> regulating political advertising and campaign communications states that public officials or government employees &ldquo;may not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The resources in this instance are the officer uniforms <a href=\"https:\/\/www.collincountytx.gov\/Government\/Budget\/Documents\/FY%202025%20Adopted%20Budget%20Book.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">issued and paid for<\/a> by the county government, which could imply an endorsement of Paxton. The ethics commission, relying on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ethics.state.tx.us\/opinions\/partVI\/550.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">advisory opinion<\/a> from 2019, has previously said the uniforms are not permissible unless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khou.com\/article\/news\/politics\/verify-law-enforcement-officers-wear-uniforms-campaign-ads\/285-4941f3c0-0a2f-44e3-b371-82664ad9be4e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">purchased personally<\/a> by the officers.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s unclear if the officers in question owned their uniforms or the local government provided them, but the county allocates a budget for constable uniforms.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;From what I understand, the police is not supposed to be using those uniforms in any sort of public display beyond their own professional services,&rdquo; said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/about\/person\/craig-holman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Craig Holman<\/a>, a government affairs lobbyist for the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">For years, John Cornyn has betrayed President Trump and the America First movement. Texas deserves better, and that&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m running for U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Join me in the fight: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rQl0P2UnWU\">https:\/\/t.co\/rQl0P2UnWU<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WP1g8vbXi0\">pic.twitter.com\/WP1g8vbXi0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KenPaxtonTX\/status\/1909947678001189087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Paxton campaign did not provide comment. Neither of the Collin County Constable precincts responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>During his 2020 reelection campaign, a Cornyn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xAOaMhC7rro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ad<\/a> featuring a McLennan County Sheriff&rsquo;s Office detective appears to violate the same ethics laws. The Cornyn campaign declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas Ethics Commission is an independent state agency that investigates and determines ethics law violations of public officials that can result in civil fines. It&rsquo;s unclear whether Paxton could face repercussions from the commission, which refers unpaid fines of more than $1,000 to his office for enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton has scuffled with the agency in the past, and his office has rarely enforced breaches of the campaign finance ethics laws, but did pay more than $11,000 in delinquent ethics fines last year after inquiries by the <em>Texas Tribune<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2024\/07\/23\/texas-ethics-campaign-finance-attorney-general\/#:~:text=The%20Texas%20Ethics%20Commissions%20issues,has%20only%20brought%20175%20lawsuits.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">according to the outlet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;It certainly adds a twist as to whether or not the ethical rules are going to be honored, and that would be up to Paxton,&rdquo; Holman said.<\/p>\n<p>Apparent violations of ethics laws are not uncommon among politicians in both parties across the country. Last year, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) used <a href=\"https:\/\/www.governing.com\/politics\/whatever-happened-to-the-hatch-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">uniformed local law enforcement officials<\/a><\/a> in an ad for his Senate campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).<\/p>\n<p>Most recently, the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> revealed that Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), running for Senate in New Hampshire, appeared to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3375264\/chris-pappas-appears-misuse-manchester-new-hampshire-resources-senate-launch-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">misuse city resources<\/a> in his campaign launch in a near-identical fashion to Paxton. Pappas seemed to violate the policies of Manchester, New Hampshire, prohibiting the use of government employees and equipment for political activity&nbsp;by featuring city firefighters and firemen in an ad.<\/p>\n<p>In Texas, the ethics code allows government resources in campaign advertising if they are &ldquo;equally accessible to the public,&rdquo; but otherwise restricts their use. The 2019 advisory opinion found that officials cannot feature the resources if they have &ldquo;custody or possession&rdquo; of them.<\/p>\n<p>Texas Senate elections are perennial contests that Democrats have insisted are prime pickup opportunities for over a decade, though they&rsquo;ve yet to unseat Cruz or Cornyn. Nonpartisan election forecasters consider the seat safely in Republican territory.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3224765\/senate-democrats-hope-midterms-2024-downballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>SENATE DEMOCRATS SEE HOPE FOR MIDTERMS WITH 2024 DOWNBALLOT RESULTS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cornyn&rsquo;s ultimate reelection fight for a fifth term will likely come in the primary, where some Republicans are already drawing battle lines.<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn is backed by the Senate GOP&rsquo;s campaign arm and other Republican senators, while Paxton, a Make America Great Again firebrand, has been endorsed by Reps. Lance Gooden (R-TX) and Troy Nehls (R-TX). Cruz is notably staying neutral.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2087288\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2087288\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ken Paxton may have breached Texas ethics laws in his Senate campaign launch by using public resources, including uniformed police officers, in his ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2425596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25086588003510-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[53796,18466,36622,52240,32076],"class_list":["post-2425595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ethics-law","tag-paxton","tag-political-advertising","tag-senate-campaign","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25086588003510-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2425595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425599,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425595\/revisions\/2425599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2425596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2425595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2425595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2425595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}