Ken Paxton is facing fresh scrutiny over his federal financial disclosures after reporting errors and omissions in filings tied to his 2026 U.S. Senate run, a joint investigation by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica found.
The investigation reported that Paxton listed seven homes but marked his income from them as “None (or less than $201),” even though rental listings and tenant or neighbor confirmations show most were rented during the reporting periods, the newsrooms said.
The reporting also found Paxton did not disclose three mortgages totaling about $1.3 million on condos at a Utah golf resort, liabilities that federal disclosure rules require candidates to list if the units are not personal residences, ProPublica reported.
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune documented a dramatic revaluation of some of Paxton’s properties between 2025 and 2026 filings — for example, a Johnson County undeveloped parcel moved from a reported top value of $50,000 last year to a $1 million–$5 million range this year — a shift the outlets say federal rules would require filers to explain, and that outside ethics lawyers called “very strange.”
Ethics experts quoted in the coverage said failing to report rental income or required mortgages can violate federal disclosure law and obscure a candidate’s conflicts of interest, which matters if Paxton were to become a senator. Craig Holman of Public Citizen told the newsrooms the omissions “reflects either pure sloppiness on Paxton’s part or a deliberate effort to conceal some of his investments and property holdings.”
Paxton’s campaign declined interviews and said Paxton has a long business career outside public service; a campaign spokesperson blamed partisan attacks, according to the reporting.
The disclosures also produced a wider reported net-worth range for Paxton in the August filing — between $1 million and $27 million — compared with the negative $1.9 million to $11.1 million range he reported the previous year, a change the joint investigation attributed to higher valuations on several properties rather than newly acquired assets.
The reporting comes as Paxton’s Democratic opponent, James Talarico, has pressed the issue: Talarico’s campaign and allied groups have been running ads that reference Paxton’s disclosed net worth, and Talarico has sought access to depositions in Paxton’s divorce proceedings, earlier coverage shows.
Voter perception may be shifting: a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll cited by the outlets found only about one-third of respondents viewed Paxton as “honest and trustworthy,” a dynamic the newsrooms linked to public reaction to the disclosures.
Readers who want background on campaign advertising and deposition fights can see earlier coverage of Talarico’s negative ad and the push to unseal Paxton depositions, as well as reporting on how the race tightened to a toss-up.
Sources
- The Texas Tribune — joint investigative reporting with ProPublica documenting omitted rental income, undisclosed mortgages and valuation changes in Paxton’s federal disclosures.
- ProPublica — detailed review of Paxton’s filings showing three undisclosed mortgages totaling about $1.3 million and changes in reported property values and net worth ranges.
- University of Texas/Texas Politics Project — poll data cited by the newsrooms on public views of Paxton’s honesty and trustworthiness.
