Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a press conference in Fort Worth on Tuesday. Credit: X / @KenPaxtonTX

During a Tuesday press conference, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton refused to answer reporters’ questions about new media reports detailing his extensive real-estate holdings and concerns that he may have committed voter fraud.

Indeed, a press liaison for Paxton, who’s running as a Republican for Texas’ open U.S. Senate seat, shut down the gathering in Fort Worth early after members of the media brought up the questions.

Viral footage of Paxton refusing to answer questions at the Fort Worth press gathering has become the latest PR blunder for the campaign, which now finds itself in a statistical dead heat with Democratic rival Texas Rep. James Talarico.

Paxton’s camp called the presser, held as part of the annual Sheriff’s Association of Texas meeting, so the attorney general could paint Talarico as anti-law enforcement.

“At the height of the anti-police movement in 2020, James Talarico proudly donated thousands of dollars to the Austin Justice Coalition, an organization that actively fought to defund the Austin Police Department,” Paxton said.

However, most reporters focused on Paxton’s history of scandal rather than Talarico’s record.

Instead, the mood became tense after a reporter asked Paxton about a New York Times report last week showing that the AG owned at least 15 real-estate properties across six states with a total value of $9 million. The story also pointed out that Paxton only draws an annual state salary of $153,000.

“While we’re here with the sheriffs, I’d like to keep today to law enforcement,” Paxton said, refusing to answer.

The next inquiry came from a reporter who asked Paxton to explain “why he voted in Collin County,” referencing a recent Texas Tribune and ProPublica investigation that alleged the AG voted in six elections over the past two years from an address where he doesn’t live.

Paxton again declined to answer, at which point his press liaison stepped in, cutting off reporters and announcing his boss was “gonna get out of here.”

In a statement released shortly after the presser, Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Ryan Martin accused Paxton of fleeing from the press.

“Corrupt Ken Paxton is a coward who runs from reporters because he can’t defend his record,” Martin said. “If he can’t answer basic questions about where he votes and his 15 properties, Texans can’t trust him to be honest or transparent about anything.”

To be sure, Tuesday’s hasty exit comes as Paxton faces a growing list of scandals.

This month, Paxton made headlines by being captured on camera taking a European vacation with his alleged mistress, making dubious claims about the size of his campaign rally crowd in McAllen and being accused of engaging in a quid pro quo with Texas Tech Board of Regents Chairman Cody Campbell.

To top all that off, Talarico also outraised Paxton by a 3-1 margin during the quarter, leading some GOP operatives, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, to warn that there’s a “real chance” a Democrat may win statewide office for the first time in more than three decades.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...