Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing renewed scrutiny after an investigation revealed that his reported girlfriend is a registered Democrat whose relationship with the Republican Senate candidate has largely remained outside the public eye.**
According to reporting by The New York Times, Paxton's campaign has taken steps to keep Tracy Duhon, a Louisiana author and Christian influencer, away from campaign appearances, political reporters and advertising as he competes in one of the country's closely watched U.S. Senate races.
The revelation introduces another complication for Paxton, whose political career has been marked by legal controversies, impeachment proceedings and allegations of personal misconduct.
Duhon, who lives in the New Orleans area, is registered as a Democrat in Louisiana, where voters formally declare their party affiliation. She is not registered to vote in Texas, according to the Times investigation.
Despite her relationship with one of Texas's most prominent Republican politicians, Duhon has remained largely absent from Paxton's public political activities.
The Times reported that campaign aides have kept her off the campaign trail, out of advertisements and away from political journalists. Paxton has similarly avoided accompanying her to prominent fundraising events in New Orleans.
The investigation also uncovered evidence connecting the couple to a residence in Frisco, Texas, outside Dallas.
The property was purchased in February through a trust whose beneficiaries have not been publicly identified. Both Paxton and Duhon have been linked to the home, and Paxton reportedly used the address for his mail.
Records also indicate that police responding to false burglar alarms at the property contacted Duhon's telephone number.
A Marriage Unravels
The relationship has attracted attention partly because of the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Paxton's marriage.
His wife, Republican Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce in July 2025 after 38 years of marriage, citing what she described as biblical grounds.
Court filings subsequently revealed that the couple had separated in June 2024 and that accusations of infidelity were connected to their marital breakdown.
Paxton and Duhon were photographed together at the Kentucky Derby in May 2024, accompanied by Duhon's then-husband, businessman Troy Duhon.
Two months later, Tracy Duhon filed for divorce from her husband of approximately 35 years.
Although the timeline has raised questions about the relationships, the publicly reported records do not independently establish precisely when Paxton and Duhon began their romantic involvement.
Duhon has developed a public profile as a Christian author and influencer whose work emphasizes faith, redemption and personal transformation. She also co-founded the charitable organization Giving Hope NOLA with her former husband.
Questions About Taxpayer-Funded Travel
The Times investigation also examined Paxton's travel to Louisiana.
State records indicate that Paxton visited the New Orleans area at least five times beginning in mid-2024. For three of those trips, his office reportedly had no records documenting official business.
The state was billed more than $13,000 for security associated with those visits.
Those expenditures raise questions about whether public resources were used in connection with personal travel, although the reported records alone do not establish that the expenses violated any law.
Paxton's office has previously defended his travel and security arrangements, explaining that his responsibilities as attorney general require travel and that threats against him necessitate protective personnel.
The Louisiana trips are not the only travel-related controversy surrounding the attorney general.
Earlier reporting revealed that Paxton celebrated New Year's Eve 2024 in Dubai alongside Duhon and two Americans who had been indicted on federal healthcare-fraud charges.
One of those men, Anosh Ahmed, had donated substantial sums to Paxton's political campaigns.
The presence of the state's chief law enforcement officer at a gathering involving individuals facing federal criminal allegations generated additional questions about his associations. The reporting did not establish that Paxton participated in their alleged crimes.
Campaign Pushes Back
Paxton's campaign has criticized the attention directed toward his personal relationships.
Campaign spokeswoman Madison Cercy characterized the Times investigation as invasive and unrelated to the issues voters care about.
Rather than directly answering several questions about Duhon, the campaign also sought to redirect attention toward the personal dating history of Paxton's Democratic Senate opponent, James Talarico.
Paxton, Duhon and Angela Paxton did not provide substantive responses to the Times' inquiries about the relationship.
The controversy arrives as Paxton campaigns for the U.S. Senate after years of legal and political battles.
In 2023, the Republican-controlled Texas House impeached him on allegations including abuse of office and bribery. The Texas Senate subsequently acquitted him.
He also resolved a long-running securities-fraud prosecution in 2024 through an agreement that required restitution without an admission of guilt.
Paxton has consistently portrayed investigations and accusations against him as politically motivated.
Personal Privacy Versus Public Accountability
The investigation raises two distinct questions.
The first concerns Paxton's private relationship, including whether his campaign has deliberately avoided publicizing a romantic partner whose Democratic registration might complicate his political image.
The second concerns the use of public resources, including taxpayer-funded security during trips for which documented official business has not been identified.
A candidate's romantic relationships and a partner's voter registration do not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing. But expenditures involving taxpayer funds are legitimate subjects of public scrutiny, particularly when the official involved oversees law enforcement for an entire state.
With the November 2026 election approaching, Paxton faces continued questions about his personal relationships, travel expenses and the transparency of his public office.
The central issue is no longer simply who the attorney general is dating. It is whether Texans have received a complete accounting of how their elected official has conducted his public responsibilities while managing a closely guarded private life.