HOUSTON, Texas — The Texas Attorney General’s Office went to court Thursday against the Houston-based Harris County Clerk’s Office, arguing that the county’s get-out-the-vote ads on Facebook and Instagram were steered toward some racial and ethnic groups and away from others.
The suit names County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and her communications director. It says the clerk’s office used Meta’s detailed targeting tools to reach African American, Asian and Latino users but not white voters, and that the office spent more than $40,000 on those ads over the past 30 days.
The state argues that sorting voters by race to deliver election information goes beyond the clerk’s authority and runs against the Equal Rights Amendment in the Texas Constitution. It is asking for a temporary restraining order that would stop the ads from running.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race against Democrat James Talarico, has stepped aside from the case, his office said.
Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin said her office is reviewing the suit, which she called politically motivated, and said the county believes its voter-information work is legal. U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, a Democrat whose district covers part of the county, urged eligible residents to vote regardless of the case.
The timing is tight. Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election ends Friday, so any ruling on the restraining order would come in the final days before Election Day in the state’s largest county, home to Houston.
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