Texas Attorney General's Office Sues Harris County Over Voter Ads It Says Target Texans by Race
Five days before Election Day, the state has sued Texas's largest county over its get-out-the-vote advertising - alleging the Harris County Clerk's ads used taxpayer money and racial targeting tags to reach some voters and not others. Attorney General Ken Paxton, himself on the ballot, has recused himself from the case.
The Texas Attorney General's office sued Harris County officials on Thursday, alleging the county is using taxpayer money to run racially discriminatory get-out-the-vote ads in the final days before the November 3 election. The lawsuit, filed in district court in Harris County and reported by The Center Square, targets voter-awareness advertising the County Clerk's office bought on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms and on X.
The suit's evidence is the ad targeting itself. According to Meta's Ad Library data cited in the filing, the clerk's office spent an estimated $43,429 in the past 30 days on one set of advertisements, and the ads were tailored with detailed targeting terms including 'African American history,' 'Hispanic kitchen,' 'African American literature' and 'Latin dance.' The filing alleges the ads 'intentionally target certain racial and ethnic groups (African American, Asian, and South American or Latino groups), but do not target other demographics,' and that Harris County is 'attempting to increase the likelihood that only certain racial and ethnic groups - but not all - will vote.' Those are the lawsuit's characterizations, carried here as allegations; the county clerk's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, The Center Square reported.
The legal claims reach for the state constitution: the suit alleges the ads violate the Texas Constitution's Equal Rights Amendment and state law, and that spending taxpayer money on them is itself unconstitutional. It asks the court to block the county from purchasing and distributing racially targeted advertisements and to declare the practice unconstitutional. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is on the November 3 ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate, has recused himself from the lawsuit; the Attorney General's office said it brought the case 'to ensure that all Texans have an equal opportunity to be informed of and participate in the electoral process, regardless of race or demographic.'
The venue is the state's biggest political battleground. Harris County is the largest county in Texas and the third most populous in the country, its population past five million in 2025, and Governor Greg Abbott vowed earlier this year to flip it 'dark red.' Polls cited by The Center Square show Democrats leading in nearly all statewide races inside the county - Gina Hinojosa ahead of Abbott by 16 points there, and James Talarico ahead of Paxton by 22 - which is the arithmetic that makes a fight over who gets urged to vote, and how, worth a lawsuit five days out.
