The Texas attorney general’s office has filed a lawsuit against election officials in Harris County, the state’s most populous county, accusing them of targeting get-out-the-vote ads at certain racial and ethnic groups while leaving others out.
The suit, filed Thursday against Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, argues that the clerk’s office violated the Texas Constitution by using Facebook and Instagram’s “detailed targeting” tools to direct voting ads toward Black, Latino and Asian audiences.
“By specifically directing voting advertisements to these and many other racial or ethnic ‘detailed targeting’ terms, it is readily apparent that Harris County is attempting to increase the likelihood that only certain racial and ethnic groups — but not all — will vote,” the lawsuit states.
The filing goes further, arguing that there can be “no legitimate reason” for the county to aim ads at a “peculiar assortment” of African American, Asian and Latino ethnicities, interests and countries while ignoring European groups, or even interests tailored to Houstonians and Texans who would actually be voting in county elections.
In a press release, the attorney general’s office said the clerk “exceeded its authority” by classifying people by race when providing election information. The lawsuit was signed by special counsel Zachary Berg.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in a heated U.S. Senate race against Democrat James Talarico, has recused himself from the case because he is on the ballot.
Harris County appears to have been an outlier. Election officials in neighboring Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Montgomery and Waller counties do not advertise on Facebook or Instagram, according to Meta’s ad library, and neither do officials in Bexar, El Paso, Tarrant or Travis counties.
The clerk’s office has since removed the targeting tags from its ads. Hudspeth defended her office in a statement, saying it is committed to providing accurate, nonpartisan election information to all qualified voters and does not seek to influence how anyone votes.
The Harris County Attorney’s Office called the suit a “pathetic political distraction,” and Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, who represents parts of Harris and Fort Bend counties, accused Paxton of trying to keep Houstonians from the polls.
“Paxton is upset that diverse voters across Harris County are making their voices heard,” Menefee said, urging eligible voters to cast their ballots.
The legal fight comes as Harris County, a Democratic stronghold that includes Houston and is home to just over 5 million people, posts record-breaking early voting numbers. More than 860,000 ballots had been cast by Thursday afternoon, surpassing the previous midterm record of 855,711 set in 2018, with one day of early voting still to go. Local officials predicted the county could reach 1 million early voters by Friday.
The stakes are high. Democrats are trying to win statewide office in Texas for the first time in three decades, while Republicans are working to hold the line in the Senate race and beyond.
Paxton was scheduled to rally supporters in Houston on Friday, just miles from a major voting center.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
