Paxton's office sues Harris County over voter ads days before Nov. 3 election

The Texas Attorney General's Office sued Harris County officials on Thursday. It accuses them of running get-out-the-vote efforts in a racially discriminatory way. The office asks a court for an order stopping the outreach ¹.

The suit lands five days before the Nov. 3 election. The attorney general, Ken Paxton, is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. Polls have consistently shown him behind Democrat James Talarico, a state representative, though within the margin of error ¹.

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What the lawsuit claims

The suit names Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and Irene Nuñez, her office's communications director. It says they bought social media ads urging people to "Plan. Check. Vote!" ¹.

The state says the ads "intentionally target certain racial and ethnic groups" and leave out other groups. As evidence, it filed a screenshot of what it says are targeting tags from Meta's Ad Center. Meta owns Facebook and Instagram. The tags include African art, African-American literature and Spanish as a second language ¹.

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Fox 26 Houston reports the county spent an estimated $43,429 on the ads over 30 days. The state argues the ads violate equal-rights protections in the Texas Constitution ². It wants an order to shut the ads off, or to remove the racial and ethnic targeting, right away. It also wants longer-term bans on similar advertising ².

Harris County is attempting to increase the likelihood that only certain racial and ethnic groups — but not all — will vote

The office says Texas could suffer irreparable injury because voting is already underway ¹. Early voting ends Friday, Oct. 30 ². These are the state's allegations. No court has ruled.

Paxton's role

Paxton said in a news release that he recused himself from the case, meaning he stepped aside. The court petition instead lists several other officials who work for him, including First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster ¹.

The Harris County Clerk's Office did not immediately respond to Courthouse News. Fox 26 reported no response from the clerk's office either ¹². Neither report says a hearing has been scheduled ².

Why Harris County matters

Harris County is home to Houston, the state's biggest city, and is a Democratic stronghold. Only about 25% of residents identify as non-Hispanic white ¹. When Paxton last ran here, in the 2022 attorney general race, his Democratic opponent beat him 53% to 44% ¹.

Courthouse News reports that if Talarico wins, it would be the first statewide win for a Democrat in Texas since 1994. Observers say that depends on turnout in big liberal cities like Harris County ¹.

That matters because the lawsuit targets a county whose turnout could decide the race. The state's own filing says the ads encourage people to plan, check and vote. A court will now have to decide whether that is discrimination or ordinary voter outreach.

The sources did not include comment from the Talarico campaign or from any Democratic official. This story will be updated if the county responds or a judge sets a hearing.

The Record

1. Nov 8, 2022In the 2022 attorney general race, Paxton's Democratic opponent beat him in Harris County, 53% to 44% ¹.
2. Oct 29, 2026The Texas Attorney General's Office sued Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and communications director Irene Nuñez over voter ads ¹².
3. Oct 30, 2026Early voting in Texas ends ².
4. Nov 3, 2026Election Day: Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico in the U.S. Senate race ¹.

Sources

1. Courthouse News, “Claiming racial discrimination, Texas AG's office sues to stop get-out-the-vote efforts” (2026-10-29). courthousenews.com/claiming-racial-discrimination-texas-ags-
2. Fox 26 Houston, “Texas sues Harris County clerk over voter ads allegedly targeting racial, ethnic groups” (2026-10-29). fox26houston.com/news/texas-sues-harris-county-clerk-over-vo

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