Corrupt Ken Paxton Slammed For Selling Out To Data Center Donors While Stalling AG Decision

San Antonio Current: “Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign has pulled in nearly $450,000 in data center donations”

KERA: “Data center industry contributes thousands to Paxton campaign”

AUSTIN, TX —  Corrupt Ken Paxton is under fire from Texans for raking in “hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the data center industry as Texans grow increasingly concerned about rampant development of the massive computing centers.” 

A bombshell investigation found that while Paxton has been stalling decisions on data centers as Attorney General, his donations from data center CEOs and special interests “exploded” to nearly $448,000. A Texan impacted by one of the data centers in Hood County that Paxton refused to weigh in on said Paxton’s donations clearly go “hand-in-hand with that lack of response or really any response relative to data centers.”

Read more below:

San Antonio Current: Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign has pulled in nearly $450,000 in data center donations

August 11, 2026

By Stephanie Koithan

• Republican Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the data center industry as Texans grow increasingly concerned about rampant development of the massive computing centers, political news outlet NOTUS reports.

• Through June, Paxton’s campaign has received at least $448,000 from executives and political committees of companies building, operating and investing in data centers, NOTUS reports. The investigation reviewed Federal Election Commission reports filed by several related political committees, including Paxton’s campaign, his leadership PAC, his joint fundraising committees and a pro-Paxton super PAC called Lone Star Liberty PAC.

• Paxton, who currently serves as Texas’ attorney general, has remained relatively mum on the topic.

• In February, Hood County asked Paxton’s office if it had the authority to temporarily block data center development. He still hasn’t weighed in.

• Instead, during a May appearance on entrepreneurial podcast Valuetainment, Paxton called the issue “complicated.” He framed the AI boom as a balancing act between staying competitive with “the enemy,” China, and protecting Texas residents’ quality of life.

• Meanwhile, bipartisan opposition is rising up in Texas against the nation’s biggest AI boom.

• Data centers have rushed into Texas to capitalize on the state’s tax incentives, reliable grid, wide open spaces and lax regulations. Yet a majority of Texans oppose data centers, according to a June poll by the University of Texas’ nonpartisan Texas Politics Project.

• In contrast to Paxton’s murky pronouncements on data centers, his Democratic opponent in the November midterm elections, State Rep. James Talarico, is calling for more regulation of the industry. That includes repealing Texas’ data center sales-tax exemption.

• The RealClearPolling average puts Talarico slightly ahead in the race. He also has significantly more money than his scandal-mired Republican opponent.

• Despite the influx of data center donations, Paxton has only managed to raise roughly half as much as Talarico’s campaign as the contentious race enters the summer home stretch.

• Paxton’s war chest reached $9.3 million as of June 30 with almost $1.8 million in cash on hand, according to the latest report to the FEC. However, the Talarico campaign had $21.5 million in cash on hand as of June 30, according to its latest FEC filing.

KERA: Data center industry contributes thousands to Paxton campaign

August 11, 2026 

By Caroline Love

• FEC filings show Paxton's campaign received at least $448,000 in donations from data center industry CEOs and political action committees.

• The data center industry has donated thousands to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign as Hood County waits for a ruling from his office on a its authority to impose a moratorium.

• Paxton's political operation received at least $448,000 as of June from executives and political committees of data center companies to his according to reporting from the Washington-based digital news outlet NOTUS, which covers government and politics.

• Hood County asked the Attorney General for a ruling in February on its authority to pause the development of data centers after resident pushback. The ruling is still pending according to the Attorney General’s website.

• James Talarico, Paxton’s Democratic opponent in the U.S. Senate race, called for regulating data centers at a rally in Arlington last week.

• “If data center companies can’t meet our demands, they shouldn’t be built in our communities,” Talarico said.

• He also proposed establishing an AI dividend, giving Americans a portion of the profits from data centers.

• Hood County has dealt with months-long tension over proposed data centers, with residents raising concerns about water consumption, wastewater treatment, traffic, property values, noise and potential impacts to the county's rural character. The county approved the concept plan for the Comanche Circle data center development in June.

• In nearby Somervell County, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution in May opposing new data centers and a letter calling on lawmakers to increase regulation. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive last week announcing that no new data centers could connect to the Texas power grid until state regulators conducted a thorough review of their energy and water usage, as well as their impact on nearby communities.

• Paxton’s campaign donations from the data center industry aren’t surprising, said Brian Crawford, whose property is near the Comanche Circle project that was recently approved in Hood County.

• “I assume that that goes hand-in-hand with that lack of response or really any response relative to data centers,” Crawford said.

• Black Mountain Energy Storage, whose vice president of land donated $17,000 to PACs associated with Paxton’s campaign in May according to FEC filings, is building another data center in Fort Worth near Crawford’s home.

• Paxton told Valuetainment, a business podcast, in May the issue of AI data centers is complicated. He said the U.S. needs to outpace China in AI, but he understands why there’s pushback.

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