Rural Texans Slam Corrupt Ken Paxton For Taking Donations From Data Centers In Their Backyard While Doing Nothing To Stop Them

Sep 1

2 min read

AUSTIN, TX — Corrupt Ken Paxton is under fire in rural Texas for taking donations from controversial data center developers while refusing to take any action as Attorney General to allow for local governments to stop them.

The Abilene Reporter News exposed how among Ken Paxton’s half million in data center industry donors are investors for the controversial data center project that residents have been protesting, when asked about the donation “Paxton's team did not respond.”

Paxton has been under fire from Texans for his ties to the data center industry after an investigation revealed his campaign contributions from data center interests have “exploded” to nearly $448,000. Paxton was one of the architects of helping flood Texas with data centers, voting for the 2013 law that gave data centers a multi-billion dollar tax handout costing taxpayers over $3.3 billion and growing.

August 30, 2026

By Lauren Dossey

Recent filings with the Federal Election Commission show Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has received nearly half a million dollars in campaign contributions from individuals with ties to the rapidly expanding data center industry as he campaigns for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas.
Among the contributors is Tyler Winklevoss of Winklevoss Capital Management, an investor in Crusoe, which is a primary operator of Abilene's Stargate Data Center.
According to FEC records, Winklevoss contributed $13,500 to the Paxton Victory fundraising committee, one of several donations linked to individuals with ties in the data center sector.
“Data center companies are buying off corrupt politicians and hoping no one will notice," Paxton's opponent James Talarico said in a statement to the Abilene Reporter News. "Ken Paxton — the most corrupt politician in Texas — has taken nearly half a million dollars from the data center industry."
"That explains why as Attorney General, Ken Paxton has sold out communities here in Abilene by funneling cash from big data center companies into his campaign," said Talarico. "Texans can’t afford a Senator who’s bought by Big data center companies. Texans can’t afford Ken Paxton’s corruption.”
When asked for a statement regarding campaign contributions from Tyler Winklevoss, Paxton's team did not respond to that question.

###