'Worst kind of hypocrite': James Talarico accuses Ken Paxton of voter fraud over wrong voter address

In November, Ken Paxton and James Talarico will be against each other for a place in the Senate representing Texas. While Paxton, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, has promised to fight against election fraud, Talarico reminded voters during a campaign rally that the Texas Attorney General may himself be guilty of voter fraud. "Someone is committing voter fraud in the state of Texas, and his name is Ken Paxton," he said. The matter is related to allegations that Paxton was registered under the wrong address while voting in six elections.

According to The Texas Tribune, Paxton seemingly used an address where he did not live to register as a voter for the past two years. He voted in May's runoff that made him the Republican nominee against Talarico while his name was registered under the incorrect address. "Turns out he was committing voter fraud the whole time, voting illegally in six elections in a row, from the wrong address," the Democratic candidate said to the people gathered.

Talarico then shared a story about how Paxton went after a woman named Crystal Mason, who made a mistake while casting a provisional ballot, leading to the mother of three being sentenced to five years in prison. Her sentence was overturned by a court, but by that time, as per Talarico, the damage had been done. "Her life was already ruined," he said. "She lost her job, she almost lost her home, her son lost his football scholarship, all because of an honest mistake."

"Ken Paxton destroyed a woman's life all while he was committing voter fraud himself. He is the worst kind of hypocrite. The kind that will send a mother to jail for a fake crime while asking us to send him to the U.S. Senate despite committing a real one," Talarico continued. The Tribune reported that Paxton's then-wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, said in a divorce filing in 2025 that the state Attorney General had moved out of their Collin County home a year prior.

However, that very address is still listed on his voter registration. When asked for answers, Campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy questioned the reporting and did not say whether the allegation merited truth. She said that Paxton was "a national leader on election integrity, with a long record of defending Texas elections," and that "attempting to insinuate otherwise and tear him down with a baseless, lie-filled tabloid story is not real reporting."

Democrats have caught on and are not going to let it slide. A separate report by the Tribune claims that the Collin County Democratic Party asked the Texas secretary of state to investigate whether Paxton committed voter fraud as he was registered under an incorrect address. "For someone who's made a stand against voter fraud, it's unconscionable (yet not surprising) that Paxton engages in this behavior," wrote Mary Higbe, vice chair of the Collin County Democratic Party. "I ask that he be held to the same standards he wishes to hold others to," she added.