Daniel Wolfram
Ken Paxton’s office has sued Harris County over targeted voter ad drives amid record early turnout at the polls.
In Texas, Senate candidate Ken Paxton is taking aim at local voting drives.
His office has sued election officials in Harris County, home to Houston. According to a report from The New Republic, the lawsuit targets a public campaign designed to boost turnout across the state’s most diverse region.
State lawyers claim that outreach aimed at Black and Latino communities amounts to reverse discrimination.
Ignoring white voters
The legal complaint argues that local leaders unfairly favored certain groups while ignoring white voters. “In any event, there can be no legitimate reason for Harris County to intentionally target voter advertisements toward this peculiar assortment of African American, Asian, and Latino ethnicities, cultural interests, and countries, but not toward any European ethnicities,” the lawsuit states, according to The New Republic.
County administrators had already stopped running the notices before the filing arrived.
Because Paxton is currently running for the U.S. Senate, he has recused himself from managing the action as Attorney General. Even so, the courtroom dispute landed right as residents began voting in staggering numbers.
Surging at the polls
Ballot boxes across Harris County were filled up from the start. More than 950,000 residents cast their ballots before early voting wrapped up. That easily broke the previous nonpresidential record of 855,711 set back in 2018. The state is also anticipating record voter numbers from minorities in Texas.
Texas Democratic Congressman Christian D. Menefee took to social media to blast the lawsuit as an attempt to suppress votes. “Ken Paxton filed this lawsuit in the final days of voting because he wants to stop Houstonians from going to the polls. He’s whining about ads that do nothing more than tell neighbors when to vote and where to get information about voting,” Menefee wrote.
Menefee pointed out that strong turnout in historic neighborhoods triggered the state’s sudden reaction. “Remember this: Someone with as much power as the Texas Attorney General would only take desperate action like this lawsuit because he is scared,” Menefee argued. He urged locals to ignore the courtroom drama, not to be deterred, and to make their voices heard instead.
