Ken Paxton
| Ken Paxton | |
 | |
| Texas State Senate District 8 | |
| Incumbent | |
| In office | |
| 2013 - Present | |
| Term ends | |
| January 13, 2015 | |
| Party | Republican |
| Compensation | |
| Base salary | $7,200/year |
| Per diem | $150/day |
| Elections and appointments | |
| Last election | November 2, 2010 |
| First elected | 2002 |
| Next election | November 4, 2014 |
| Term limits | N/A |
| Prior offices | |
| Texas State House, District 70 | |
| 2003 - 2013 | |
 | |
Contents |
Paxton is an attorney with a private practice. He has worked for Strasburger and Price, Limited Liability Partnership, and has been a Management Consultant with Arthur Andersen, and In-House Legal Counsel for J.C. Penney Company, Incorporated.
Paxton is a member of the Allen Chamber of Commerce, Centennial Medical Center Board, Collin County Bar Association, Dallas Estate Planning Council, Frisco Chamber of Commerce, Marketplace Ministries Board of Directors, McKinney Chamber of Commerce, McKinney Rotary, and Stonebriar Community Church.[1]
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Paxton served on the following committees:
| Texas Committee Assignments, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Education | ||||
| • Government Organization | ||||
| • Intergovernmental Relations | ||||
| • Jurisprudence | ||||
| • Transportation, Vice-chair | ||||
2011-2012
Ken Paxton served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas Committee Assignments, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • County Affairs | ||||
| • Urban Affairs | ||||
Issues
Sponsored legislation
- HB 465 - Relating to the number of charters the State Board of Education may grant for open-enrollment charter schools.
- HB 467 - Relating to authorization for a school district board of trustees to adopt term limits.
- HB 994 - Relating to the limitation on the rate of growth in appropriations from state tax revenues.
- HB 1039 - Relating to the creation of county databases containing information on county expenditures.[2]
Elections
2012
- See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2012
Paxton won election in the 2012 election for Texas State Senate, District 8. Paxton ran unopposed in the May 29 primary election and won election in the general election which took place on November 6, 2012.[3]
| Texas State Senate, District 8, General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Ken Paxton |
62.3% | 178,238 | |
| Democratic | Jack Ternan | 34.6% | 99,010 | |
| Libertarian | Ed Kless | 3.1% | 8,899 | |
| Total Votes | 286,147 | |||
2010
Paxton won re-election unopposed in District 70. He was unopposed in the March 2 Republican primary and faced no opposition in the November 2 general election.[4]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 70 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Ken Paxton (R)
|
43,006 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Paxton won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas's 70th District, defeating Robert Virasin (L). Paxton received 73,450 votes in the election while Virasin received 11,751 votes.[5] Paxton raised $320,266 in campaign contributions.[6]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 70 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Ken Paxton (R)
|
73,450 | 86.20% | ||
| Robert Virasin (L) | 11,751 | 13.79% | ||
Campaign donors
2012
Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.
2010
In 2010, Paxton received $245,668 in campaign donations. The top contributors are listed below.[7]
| Texas House of Representatives 2010 election - Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Top contributors to Ken Paxton's campaign in 2010 | |
| CLA Management Ltd | $10,000 |
| Bonnema, Arch | $5,000 |
| Lobb, Lawrence | $5,000 |
| Goodwyn, Monty | $5,000 |
| Mcbrayer, Michael | $5,000 |
| Total Raised in 2010 | $245,668 |
2008
Below are Paxton's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2008 election:[8]
| Contributor | 2008 total |
|---|---|
| Bob J Perry | $10,000 |
| Mowery Capital Management LLC | $10,000 |
| Texas Assoc of Realtors | $10,000 |
| Bobby Lloyd | $5,000 |
| AT&T | $5,000 |
Legislative sessions
82nd (2011-2012)
2011 speaker race
Paxton and Warren Chisum of District 88 both challenged incumbent speaker Joe Straus for the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives by calling his conservative principles into question and promising leadership that more closely reflected the conservative Republican majority. Straus was elected Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives for a second term at the start of the 82nd legislative session on January 11, 2010 in a 132-15 vote. The lead up to the speaker vote was a hot and heavily covered political issue in Texas, but finished anticlimactically. While the rhetoric remained high amongst conservative activists and a handful of representatives right until the vote, both Chisum and Paxton dropped out of the race prior to the formal vote after it was overwhelmingly apparent Straus would keep his speaker seat.[9]
Scorecards
Empower Texans Fiscal Responsibility Index
Empower Texans produces the Fiscal Responsibility Index as "a measurement of how lawmakers perform on size and role of government issues." The index uses "exemplar votes on core budget and free enterprise issues that demonstrate legislators' governing philosophy."[10] Legislators are graded along a standard grading scale, receiving grades A through F based on their performance during the legislative session.
2011
Ken Paxton received a grade of A+ on the 2011 Fiscal Responsibility Index.
- 2011 Taxpayer Champion. Paxton was named a "2011 Taxpayer Champion," which is "the top award presented by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility to legislators based on their rating on the most recent Fiscal Responsibility Index."[11]
External links
- Ken Paxton House member page
- Ken Paxton's campaign website/blog
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002
- Freedom Speaks profile
- Texas Conservative Coalition profile
- Texas State Directory profile
- Texas Political Almanac HD 70 profile
- Texas Tribune profile & bio
- Vote-TX.org profile
- State Surge profile
- Texas Conservative Coalition profile
- Ken Paxton on Facebook
- Ken Paxton on Twitter
References
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Paxton
- ↑ Texas Legislature - Bills Authored/Joint Authored by Rep. Paxton
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State - 2012 Election and Candidate Information
- ↑ Official Texas Election Results
- ↑ Texas House official election results for 2008
- ↑ District 70 Texas House candidate funds, 2008
- ↑ Follow the Money - 2010 Contributions
- ↑ Follow the Money - 2008 Campaign contributions
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Straus formally voted speaker", January 11, 2010
- ↑ Empower Texans, "Fiscal Responsibility Index"
- ↑ Empower Texans, "2011 Taxpayer Champions
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Texas House District 70 2003–2013 |
Succeeded by Scott Sanford (R) |
| Preceded by Florence Shapiro (R) |
Texas State Senate District 8 2013–Present |
Succeeded by NA |
 |
State of Texas Austin (capital) |
|---|---|
| Ballot Measures |
List of Texas ballot measures | Local measures | School bond issues | Ballot measure laws | History of direct democracy | Campaign Finance Requirements | Recall process | |
| Government |
Texas State Constitution | House of Representatives | Senate | Legislative Budget Board | Legislative Reference Library | |
| State executive offices |
Governor | Lieutenant Governor | Secretary of State | Attorney General | Comptroller | State Auditor | Commissioner of Education | Commissioner of Insurance | Commissioner of Agriculture | Commissioner of General Land Office | Chairman of Workforce Commission | Chairman of Public Utilities | Chairman of Railroad Commission | |
| Judiciary |
Texas Supreme Court | Court of Appeals | Court of Criminal Appeals | District Courts | Judicial selection | 2008 Supreme Court elections | Judicial News | Judicial Activists | |
| Transparency Topics |
Public Information Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations | |
| Divisions |
List of Counties |
List of Cities |
Sunshinereview:Texas school districts A - L |
Sunshinereview:Texas school districts M - Z | |
- State legislative article missing donor information
- Texas House of Representatives
- Former member, Texas House of Representatives
- Current member, Texas State Senate
- 2010 unopposed
- Texas
- 2010 candidate
- House of Representatives candidate, 2010
- Republican Party
- 2010 incumbent
- 2010 winner
- State House incumbent retired, 2012
- State House running for State Senate, 2012
- State senators first elected in 2012
- 2012 challenger
- State Senate candidate, 2012
- 2012 primary (winner)
- 2012 general election (winner)
- 2012 open seat
