Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Dallas ISD reach agreement over transgender teens in girls' sports
This comes weeks after
Paxton questioned officials
with Dallas ISD as part of an investigation into whether the district is violating state law by allowing transgender teen athletes to compete in girls' sports.
"I urge all other school districts to fulfill their legal obligations to protect girls' sports and end any attempts to circumvent Texas law. Biological males have no place in girls' sports, and any Texas public schools doing otherwise will be held accountable," Paxton said.
In February,
Paxton requested an extensive list of documents from both DISD and Irving ISD
after district officials were allegedly filmed, separately, telling parents that trans students could play in women's sports if the parents changed their birth certificates to "female."
The AG's office argued that DISD's LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston was filmed telling a parent that a trans student would be allowed to participate in girls' sports if the parent changed the birth certificate of their son to "female." The office also alleged she said that the district "find[s] the loopholes in everything" and that she is willing to go to jail for defying Texas law.
Paxton's office said Gaston resigned amid the investigation.
Dallas ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In October 2021, Gov. Greg
Abbott signed a bill into law
that banned trans women and girls in K-12 schools from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identities. It forces athletes to compete on teams on the basis of their "biological sex," or the sex that was "correctly stated" on their birth certificate, according to
the text of the legislation
.
He signed the
Save Women's Sports Act
into law in June 2023 which bans trans athletes from participating in collegiate sports teams that match their gender identities.
The bill included provisions that prevent trans athletes who have had their sex changed on their birth certificates from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identities by defining sex as what was "entered on or near the time of the student's birth," and only recognizes changes made to birth certificates that were done to correct a clerical error.
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CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
How Ken Paxton keeps pushing the legal envelope
The morning after news broke that Texas House Democrats planned to return to the state, effectively ending their efforts to block Republicans from redrawing the state's congressional maps, Attorney General Ken Paxton took a victory lap. The firebrand conservative ally of President Donald Trump had used his office to wage several legal battles against the absent Democrats at once, drawing outsized attention as he challenges Sen. John Cornyn in next year's Republican Senate primary. Paxton asked the state Supreme Court to expel 13 of them from office. He asked an Illinois court to help enforce the Texas House speaker's civil arrest warrants for the Democrats who had holed up outside Chicago. And he obtained a court order preventing former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke's political action committee from raising money to assist those boycotting Democrats. Then, he claimed O'Rourke violated that court order and sought his arrest. On Wednesday morning, Paxton said his strategy worked: Democrats planned to end their quorum-breaking effort faster than they had in previous standoffs, including 2003 and 2021. 'The idea of putting pressure on them from different angles — I think it got to them. Because they certainly came back faster than they have in the past,' Paxton told conservative talk radio host Mark Davis. Paxton's actions, and his comments in the radio interview, offered a window into how one of the nation's most controversial attorneys general has long operated. He has pushed legal boundaries — riling up conservatives and using the courts to place himself at the center of political fights with national consequences, even when his lawsuits have little chance of success. The three-term attorney general's willingness to wage those battles has earned him deep support among conservatives — including those in the state Senate who acquitted him two years ago, after the Republican-dominated House had impeached him over allegations of corruption and bribery. It has also alienated many Democrats and some moderate Republicans — and it's why Democrats believe the state's Senate race could become competitive next fall if Paxton ousts Cornyn in the GOP primary. The swirl of controversy surrounding Paxton intensified last month, when his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce, alleging infidelity. Still, as his primary against Cornyn looms, Paxton has effectively silenced his Republican critics as the party waged a pressure campaign to return the absent House Democrats to Texas. And he did so using tools unavailable to Cornyn — who asked US Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the source of the Democrats' funding, but could not launch his own probe. Paxton is 'one of the most innovative AGs in terms of using his office for advancing his political vision,' said Paul Nolette, a professor and the director of Marquette University's Les Aspin Center for Government who has written extensively about attorneys generals' use of their offices to influence national policy. 'What's new and unusual is that he's really been the one who has modeled how to use tools that don't, on their face, seem partisan, for greater partisan effect,' Nolette said. Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said that among legal experts, 'I think everyone views Paxton the same way — as someone who will stop at nothing to use and abuse his office to advance whatever he views as the partisan political imperative of the moment.' 'He views himself less as the attorney general of Texas than as the attorney general of the Republican Party,' Vladeck said. 'And that may endear him to the folks who vote for him and who his actions benefit, but it certainly isn't consistent with his constitutional, statutory and ethical duties and obligations to all of the people of Texas.' After 12 years in the Texas legislature, Paxton was elected attorney general in 2014. During his first two years in office — the last two years of Barack Obama's presidency — Paxton filed 27 lawsuits against the Obama administration. He initiated a lawsuit seeking to have Obama's signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act, declared unconstitutional — an effort the Supreme Court rejected. Paxton was more successful battling Obama's immigration reforms, blocking the implementation of a policy that would have granted deferred action to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States since 2010 and have children who are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. He also fought Obama's administration over environmental protections, water regulations, overtime policy, hiring rules for felons and more. He led 13 states that won an injunction halting the Obama administration's guidance for schools on transgender students' bathroom access. Perhaps Paxton's most audacious legal move came in 2020, when he filed a post-election lawsuit against four presidential battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where President Joe Biden had defeated Trump. He alleged in a statement that those states' actions to expand voter access during the coronavirus pandemic had cast 'a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election.' The Supreme Court quickly denied the lawsuit, ruling that Texas lacked standing. During Biden's term, Paxton again regularly challenged the Democratic administration in court. His office bragged in a November 2024 news release that it had filed its 100th lawsuit against Biden's administration. Paxton said in a statement at the time that 'the federal government has been ruthlessly weaponized against the American people. But Texas stood in their way.' He challenged Biden's immigration policies, including winning a ruling blocking Biden's 'parole in place' policy that gave legal status to certain undocumented individuals who are married to US citizens. He unsuccessfully challenged the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccine mandate and later launched investigations into the pharmaceutical drug makers who manufactured vaccines. With Trump back in office, Paxton has continued to wage cultural battles by targeting blue states. In December, Paxton sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas — one of the first challenges to shield laws enacted by Democratic-controlled states to protect doctors in the wake of Roe v. Wade's overturning. Then, in July, he sued a New York county clerk for failing to levy a fine imposed in Texas when that doctor did not show up for court. The suits are ongoing. He has also returned to an issue Trump raised constantly during the 2024 campaign: allegations of voter fraud. Paxton's office said in a news release last month it had 'launched a sweeping investigation into more than 100 potential noncitizens who cast over 200 ballots in the 2020 and 2022 election cycles.' Nolette said Paxton has 'used the very ample tools of the AG's office to maximum effect.' He pointed to Paxton's targeting of a migrant shelter in El Paso by demanding its client records, his use of consumer protection laws to probe pharmaceutical drug-makers, hospitals that provided gender-affirming care to minors and more. 'He's really been a leader in using those almost bread-and-butter tools of the office, which are typically for run-of-the-mill cases at the state level or noncontroversial, bipartisan issues, and using those in a more sharply partisan way,' Nolette said.
CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
How Ken Paxton keeps pushing the legal envelope
The morning after news broke that Texas House Democrats planned to return to the state, effectively ending their efforts to block Republicans from redrawing the state's congressional maps, Attorney General Ken Paxton took a victory lap. The firebrand conservative ally of President Donald Trump had used his office to wage several legal battles against the absent Democrats at once, drawing outsized attention as he challenges Sen. John Cornyn in next year's Republican Senate primary. Paxton asked the state Supreme Court to expel 13 of them from office. He asked an Illinois court to help enforce the Texas House speaker's civil arrest warrants for the Democrats who had holed up outside Chicago. And he obtained a court order preventing former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke's political action committee from raising money to assist those boycotting Democrats. Then, he claimed O'Rourke violated that court order and sought his arrest. On Wednesday morning, Paxton said his strategy worked: Democrats planned to end their quorum-breaking effort faster than they had in previous standoffs, including 2003 and 2021. 'The idea of putting pressure on them from different angles — I think it got to them. Because they certainly came back faster than they have in the past,' Paxton told conservative talk radio host Mark Davis. Paxton's actions, and his comments in the radio interview, offered a window into how one of the nation's most controversial attorneys general has long operated. He has pushed legal boundaries — riling up conservatives and using the courts to place himself at the center of political fights with national consequences, even when his lawsuits have little chance of success. The three-term attorney general's willingness to wage those battles has earned him deep support among conservatives — including those in the state Senate who acquitted him two years ago, after the Republican-dominated House had impeached him over allegations of corruption and bribery. It has also alienated many Democrats and some moderate Republicans — and it's why Democrats believe the state's Senate race could become competitive next fall if Paxton ousts Cornyn in the GOP primary. The swirl of controversy surrounding Paxton intensified last month, when his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce, alleging infidelity. Still, as his primary against Cornyn looms, Paxton has effectively silenced his Republican critics as the party waged a pressure campaign to return the absent House Democrats to Texas. And he did so using tools unavailable to Cornyn — who asked US Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the source of the Democrats' funding, but could not launch his own probe. Paxton is 'one of the most innovative AGs in terms of using his office for advancing his political vision,' said Paul Nolette, a professor and the director of Marquette University's Les Aspin Center for Government who has written extensively about attorneys generals' use of their offices to influence national policy. 'What's new and unusual is that he's really been the one who has modeled how to use tools that don't, on their face, seem partisan, for greater partisan effect,' Nolette said. Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said that among legal experts, 'I think everyone views Paxton the same way — as someone who will stop at nothing to use and abuse his office to advance whatever he views as the partisan political imperative of the moment.' 'He views himself less as the attorney general of Texas than as the attorney general of the Republican Party,' Vladeck said. 'And that may endear him to the folks who vote for him and who his actions benefit, but it certainly isn't consistent with his constitutional, statutory and ethical duties and obligations to all of the people of Texas.' After 12 years in the Texas legislature, Paxton was elected attorney general in 2014. During his first two years in office — the last two years of Barack Obama's presidency — Paxton filed 27 lawsuits against the Obama administration. He initiated a lawsuit seeking to have Obama's signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act, declared unconstitutional — an effort the Supreme Court rejected. Paxton was more successful battling Obama's immigration reforms, blocking the implementation of a policy that would have granted deferred action to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States since 2010 and have children who are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. He also fought Obama's administration over environmental protections, water regulations, overtime policy, hiring rules for felons and more. He led 13 states that won an injunction halting the Obama administration's guidance for schools on transgender students' bathroom access. Perhaps Paxton's most audacious legal move came in 2020, when he filed a post-election lawsuit against four presidential battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where President Joe Biden had defeated Trump. He alleged in a statement that those states' actions to expand voter access during the coronavirus pandemic had cast 'a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election.' The Supreme Court quickly denied the lawsuit, ruling that Texas lacked standing. During Biden's term, Paxton again regularly challenged the Democratic administration in court. His office bragged in a November 2024 news release that it had filed its 100th lawsuit against Biden's administration. Paxton said in a statement at the time that 'the federal government has been ruthlessly weaponized against the American people. But Texas stood in their way.' He challenged Biden's immigration policies, including winning a ruling blocking Biden's 'parole in place' policy that gave legal status to certain undocumented individuals who are married to US citizens. He unsuccessfully challenged the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccine mandate and later launched investigations into the pharmaceutical drug makers who manufactured vaccines. With Trump back in office, Paxton has continued to wage cultural battles by targeting blue states. In December, Paxton sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas — one of the first challenges to shield laws enacted by Democratic-controlled states to protect doctors in the wake of Roe v. Wade's overturning. Then, in July, he sued a New York county clerk for failing to levy a fine imposed in Texas when that doctor did not show up for court. The suits are ongoing. He has also returned to an issue Trump raised constantly during the 2024 campaign: allegations of voter fraud. Paxton's office said in a news release last month it had 'launched a sweeping investigation into more than 100 potential noncitizens who cast over 200 ballots in the 2020 and 2022 election cycles.' Nolette said Paxton has 'used the very ample tools of the AG's office to maximum effect.' He pointed to Paxton's targeting of a migrant shelter in El Paso by demanding its client records, his use of consumer protection laws to probe pharmaceutical drug-makers, hospitals that provided gender-affirming care to minors and more. 'He's really been a leader in using those almost bread-and-butter tools of the office, which are typically for run-of-the-mill cases at the state level or noncontroversial, bipartisan issues, and using those in a more sharply partisan way,' Nolette said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Cornyn, Paxton in dead heat in U.S. Senate primary, latest poll shows
The Brief A poll from Emerson College shows Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton running neck-and-neck for the Republican nomination in the 2026 U.S. Senate race. Colin Allred was the top polling Democrat candidate based on those who have announced. Cornyn and Paxton both held polling leads over Allred. A new poll shows Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in a dead heat for the 2026 U.S. Senate Republican Primary. Nearly 500 Texas Republican primary voters were polled between Monday and Tuesday with 30% saying they supported Cornyn and 29% saying they supported Paxton. The poll from Emerson College also showed plenty of opportunity for both candidates, with 37% of those polled saying they were undecided in the race. 2026 Senate primaries The new poll shows a stark shift in voters, who have polled overwhelmingly in favor of Paxton since he announced his campaign. What they're saying "Seven months ahead of the Republican Primary, the contest between the four-term incumbent and the Attorney General is a toss-up, with 37% of voters still undecided," Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. "Among these undecided voters, President Trump's job approval stands at 73%, suggesting his endorsement could be pivotal in such a close race." The National Republican Senatorial Committee called the latest poll a shift in the race. "Private and internal data has shown positive movement for John Cornyn, and this public poll confirms that the race is tightening," NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez said. "As we have always said, when voters tune in and learn about Ken Paxton's record the race will shift." By the numbers In a broader survey of 1,000 Texans, both Republican candidates held leads over the current top Democratic candidate, Colin Allred, in a hypothetical November 2026 showdown. Cornyn leads Allred, 45% to 38%, while Paxton's lead is a more narrow, 46% to 41%. Among the announced candidates, Allred leads the Democrats with 58%, and 34% undecided. Texas redistricting polling Emerson College also polled voters about their feelings on Texas redistricting. When asked if voters support or oppose redrewing the state's congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, 36% supported the idea, 38% opposed the idea and 26% said they were unsure. The numbers were more divisive within the parties with 58% of Republicans supporting the measure and 70% of Democrats opposed to a new map. Texas voters were also split about Democrats who left the state to avoid a vote of redistricting. Forty-one percent of voters said Democrats should be arrested for leaving the state, while 37% disagreed and 22% were neutral. "Majorities of both Cornyn and Paxton primary voters believe legislators should be arrested, though the sentiment is 11 points higher among Paxton voters (79%) than among Cornyn voters (68%)," Kimball said. See the full poll results here. The Source Information in this article comes from polling conducted by Emerson College between Aug. 11 and 12, 2025.
