{"id":387132,"date":"2026-07-26T17:52:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/387132\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T17:52:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:52:58","slug":"ken-paxtons-senate-campaign-admits-it-took-illegal-campaign-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/387132\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign admits it took illegal campaign donations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TexasTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a conservative conference. Credit: Wikimedia Commons \/ Gage Skidmore<\/p>\n

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

In a July 20 letter<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n

The MAGA Republican\u2019s campaign said it returned a total of $17,500 in contributions flagged by the FEC, the largest of those totaling $7,000. <\/p>\n

The exchange with regulators comes as questions about Paxton\u2019s 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\u2019d committed voter fraud and a New York Times report that he\u2019d amassed a $9 million real-estate empire despite earning an annual salary of $153,000 as state attorney general. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for the FEC to ask political campaigns such as Paxton\u2019s to clarify their quarterly filings or resolve issues that appear to violate federal rules. However, both the frequency of the agency\u2019s letters to the AG\u2019s Senate campaign and the dollar amounts stand out. <\/p>\n

The FEC has sent letters to Ken Paxton for Senate\u2019s treasurer flagging potentially illegal contributions in response to every quarterly filing the campaign has made since the second quarter of 2025, federal records show. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the agency last summer\u00a0asked the campaign<\/a>\u00a0to explain or return roughly $658,000 in political contributions that appear to violate federal law \u2014\u00a0a sum that campaign finance experts said far exceeds the norm.<\/p>\n

In response to the Aug. 17, 2025 letter, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn \u2014\u00a0Paxton\u2019s Republican primary rival \u2014 featured it prominently in an online campaign ad questioning Paxton\u2019s ethics.<\/p>\n

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