Ken Paxton

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Warren Kenneth "Ken" Paxton, Jr.

51st Attorney General of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 5, 2015
Preceded by Greg Abbott

Texas State Senator for District 8 (Collin County)
In office
January 2013 – January 4, 2015
Preceded by Florence Shapiro
Succeeded by Van Taylor

Texas State Representative for
District 70 (Collin County)
In office
January 2003 – January 2013
Preceded by David Counts
Succeeded by Scott Sanford

Born December 23, 1962
Minot, North Dakota, USA
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Angela Paxton
Alma mater Baylor University

University of Virginia School of Law

Religion Christianity

Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962), is an American lawyer and politician who has been since January 2015 the Republican attorney general of his adopted state of Texas.

Paxton won election as attorney general in 2014 with support from conservatives and Tea Party activists. In the Republican primary, he defeated state Representative Dan H. Branch of Dallas, a director of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University, named for John Tower, Texas first popularly-elected Republican senator, considered an icon of Moderate Republicans.

Before he became attorney general, Paxton previously served for ten years in the Texas House of Representatives and two years in the Texas Senate, representing Collin County, north of Dallas. He resides with his wife, Angela, his political advisor in McKinney in Collin County.

During much of his tenure as attorney general, Paxton has been sidetracked by personal legal matters. He faces a fraud trial in Houston in December 2017 for having allegedly failed to inform those investing in the technology firm Servergy that he was receiving a commission on sales. The case will be presided over by a Democratic judge, Robert Johnson.[1] Meanwhile, a Security and Exchange Commission complaint against Paxton has been twice dismissed, most recently in March 2017, on the grounds that the attorney general had "no plausible legal duty" to inform investors that he would earn a commission if they purchased stock in a technical company that Paxton represented.[2]

As attorney general, Paxton has fought to keep alive from federal court challenges the state laws requiring voter identification, the abolition of sanctuary cities, religious freedom, and the current congressional districting plan, which Democrats claim is skewed in favor of Republicans.

Paxton's trial begins on December 11, the last day that he can file as a candidate for re-nomination in the Republican primary scheduled for March 6, 2018. If convicted, he could face huge fines and 99 years imprisonment.[2]

References

  1. Cindy George and Andrea Zelinski (July 27, 2017). Texas AG Paxton to stand trial in December, judge rules. The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved on October 1, 2017.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Andrea Zelinski, "Paxton's SEC charge dismissed: No 'legal duty' to disclose commission," San Antonio Express-News, March 3, 2017, p. A3.