Texas AG office sues Harris County over voter ad targeting

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Harris County clerk on Thursday. The suit challenges a series of get-out-the-vote advertisements that ran on social media platforms. Legal filings describe the campaign as racially discriminatory for its specific demographic targeting.

The complaint seeks an order from a Harris County district judge to pull or reconfigure the ads. The goal is to remove all identifiers that target voters based on race or ethnicity. The lawsuit focuses on targeting tags used on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. These tags directed the ads toward users with interests in African, Asian, and Latino cultures.

Specific targeting criteria listed in the petition include African-American literature, Latin music, and Hispanic kitchen interests. The ads also targeted users interested in East Asia, 27 different countries, and specific cities such as Madrid and Bangkok. The legal team argues this approach prioritizes certain groups while excluding European ethnicities, cultural interests, and countries. No European-specific tags were used in the campaign.

The ads first appeared in late September and early October. They encouraged voters to make a plan for voting and find local information. The lawsuit states that every day the ads run with these specific targets violates the Texas Constitution. It asserts there is no legitimate reason to target specific ethnicities and countries without including European counterparts or local Houston interests.

The Harris County Attorney’s Office responded on social media, calling the suit a pathetic political distraction. The office said the county remains focused on protecting eligible voters rather than engaging in what it described as grandstanding. A statement from Paxton’s office accused the clerk of trying to increase turnout among particular races and ethnicities. The office noted that Paxton is recusing himself from the case because he is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.

U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, a Democrat representing part of Houston, criticized the move in a social media post. He said Paxton wants to stop Houstonians from going to the polls. Menefee argued the ads simply tell neighbors when and where to vote. He added that Paxton appears upset that diverse voters in Harris County are making their voices heard.

Paxton’s office did not answer questions regarding when the attorney general decided to recuse himself. The office also did not explain how it learned about the specific ad targeting strategies. The lawsuit remains pending in Harris County district court.