A Texas Program Has Poured Billions Into Cancer Research. Ken Paxton Voted Against It. [Mother Jones]

Aug 19

3 min read

AUSTIN, TX — Corrupt Ken Paxton is pro-... cancer?

A new report from Mother Jones exposed how Paxton voted to block cancer research funding, breaking with his own party to try to stop the creation of one of Texas’ preeminent cancer centers.

Paxton was one of the only Texas House Republicans who stood against the creation of The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Paxton “voted against the two bills that organized the institute and that placed it on the ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment,” which, if Paxton had his way, would have stopped over 58,500 cancer cases from being detected.

Paxton already backs massive cuts to healthcare that are raising costs for Texas families. Because of the Paxton-supported OBBBA cuts to Medicaid and expiring tax credits, rural Texans are seeing their hospitals close, 1.7 million Texans are expected to lose their health insurance, and families are already seeing healthcare premiums double.

Texas Democratic Party Spokesperson Ryan Martin:

"Opposing cancer research for Texas children and families is a new low — even for Corrupt Ken Paxton. If Ken Paxton had his way, Texans would have lost out on billions of dollars in cancer research and thousands of sick patients would have been left without this lifeline. Texans deserve to know why Ken Paxton broke with his own party to oppose bringing this landmark cancer research institute to Texas.”

August 19, 2026

By Tim Murphy

In early 2007, newly reelected Republican Gov. Rick Perry pushed an innovative response to a problem that was killing about 35,000 Texans each year. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, funded with $3 billion in public funds, would support groundbreaking work at the state’s leading research institutions, while ramping up prevention efforts across Texas. Perry boasted that year that the CPRIT would “put Texas on the path to becoming the world’s foremost leader in cancer research.”
In a state legislature often riven by partisan fights, CPRIT was an idea with broad bi-partisan appeal. The Republican state representative who introduced the measure that would become law called it “one of the most positive actions we can take this session, to cure cancer in our lifetime.” The legislation passed both chambers overwhelmingly that spring, and a constitutional amendment authorizing the program was later approved by 61 percent of Texas voters.
But the measure had its doubters. About two dozen of the house’s 150 members voted against the idea, each time it came up for a vote. Among them: Ken Paxton, then a state representative from suburban Collin County.
The current Texas attorney general, who is locked in a tight race for US Senate with Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, voted against the two bills that organized the institute and that placed it on the ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment. Paxton did not participate in any public debates, nor did he respond to a request for comment about his opposition to the state’s cancer moonshot.
But two decades later, the project Paxton voted against has delivered major returns. According to the CPRIT’s annual impact reports, it has detected 58,507 cases of cancer, funded 282 child and adolescent cancer research projects, attracted an additional $12.5 billion in outside funding, and helped “save tens of thousands of lives.” And while the program has not been perfect (a grant-awarding scandal in 2012 led to hearings, a court case, and a new round of legislative tinkering) Texans like what they’ve seen: Voters approved a second $3 billion investment in 2019, by an even larger margin than before.
[Paxton] was one of just 26 “nays” on the bill proposing a constitutional amendment, and 24 votes against the bill organizing the institute.
CPRIT was not the only major cancer initiative Paxton opposed in 2007. In the same legislative session, Paxton voted to overturn another major Perry policy intended to reduce cancer rates in the state. He was a co-author of HB 1098, which barred the state from mandating the HPV vaccine for sixth graders—something Perry had tried to do by executive order.
HB 1098 passed the legislature, and Perry chose not to veto it. The consequences have been severe.
But thanks in part to Paxton and his colleagues, Texas’ HPV vaccination rate remains well below the national average.
“After the big ugly bill cut more than a trillion dollars from healthcare programs to fund tax cuts for the wealthy,” [James Talarico] said, the burden of health care costs is “only going to get worse.”