Mr. Paxton, a former state consultant who cultivated the conservative grass roots of the Republican Party, was first elected legal professional basic in 2014. He promised to struggle the Affordable Care Act and defend Texas’ voter identification legislation.
But he has spent practically his total time as legal professional basic stalked by accusations of misconduct, together with a felony indictment for securities fraud from 2015. The costs stem from accusations that Mr. Paxton did not register as an funding adviser consultant and misled buyers by encouraging them to spend money on an organization however not telling them that the corporate would pay him. The case has but to go to trial.
Last 12 months, a lot of Mr. Paxton’s high aides, themselves staunch conservatives, turned whistle-blowers and accused him of bribery, abuse of energy and different potential felony acts in reference to an Austin actual property investor. Those accusations, made to the F.B.I., kicked off a federal inquiry that also hangs over Mr. Paxton’s head. He has denied wrongdoing in each instances.
Even so, Mr. Paxton gained the Republican major final month, handily defeating the land commissioner, George P. Bush, a member of the political dynasty. He did so partly by taking part in the politics of Texas accurately, which has been his nice expertise.
Mr. Paxton joined Mr. Trump in attempting to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election, going as far as to sue states the place Mr. Trump had misplaced, accusing them of fraud. Mr. Paxton appeared with Mr. Trump in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, at a rally that drew 1000’s, a few of whom went on to storm the U.S. Capitol. Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Paxton final 12 months, serving to to propel him previous his scandals and thru the Republican major.
Mr. Paxton has echoed the previous president in one other approach: by attacking tech firms. In 2020, Mr. Paxton’s workplace, joined by 9 different states, filed an antitrust lawsuit towards Google. The lawsuit argued that the web big had abused its management over the opaque system that delivers advertisements on-line.
After the Jan. 6 riot, Mr. Paxton despatched investigative calls for not solely to Twitter but additionally to Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, asking for particulars of content material moderation practices.