Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign this week admitted to federal regulators that it took multiple first-quarter donations that exceeded limits outlined in U.S. campaign finance law.
In a July 20 letter to the Federal Election Commission, the Ken Paxton for Senate campaign said it had refunded or designated funds from five donors flagged by regulators because they exceeded the $3,500-per-election total allowed for individual donors.
The MAGA Republican’s campaign said it returned a total of $17,500 in contributions flagged by the FEC, the largest of those totaling $7,000.
The exchange with regulators comes as questions about Paxton’s ethics continue to plague his run against Democratic State Rep. James Talarico. Earlier this week, Paxton abruptly left a press conference after reporters asked him about allegations he’d committed voter fraud and a New York Times report that he’d amassed a $9 million real-estate empire despite earning an annual salary of $153,000 as state attorney general.
It’s not uncommon for the FEC to ask political campaigns such as Paxton’s to clarify their quarterly filings or resolve issues that appear to violate federal rules. However, both the frequency of the agency’s letters to the AG’s Senate campaign and the dollar amounts stand out.
The FEC has sent letters to Ken Paxton for Senate’s treasurer flagging potentially illegal contributions in response to every quarterly filing the campaign has made since the second quarter of 2025, federal records show.
What’s more, the agency last summer asked the campaign to explain or return roughly $658,000 in political contributions that appear to violate federal law — a sum that campaign finance experts said far exceeds the norm.
In response to the Aug. 17, 2025 letter, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn — Paxton’s Republican primary rival — featured it prominently in an online campaign ad questioning Paxton’s ethics.
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