ActBlue Sues Texas Attorney General Paxton, Alleges Political Retaliation

Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing the Republican official of using his office to conduct a politically motivated campaign against the organization as he pursues a U.S. Senate seat.

The federal lawsuit, filed Friday in Boston, seeks to counter Paxton’s recent legal action against ActBlue in Texas state court. ActBlue claims Paxton’s investigation represents unconstitutional retaliation targeting the platform for its protected political speech and association.

“Ken Paxton has spent more than two years using the power of his office to investigate, harass, and sue ActBlue,” said Lawrence Oliver, ActBlue’s chief legal officer. “The timing of Paxton fighting for his political life in his run for U.S. Senate and his use of the Attorney General’s office to attack ActBlue should not be lost on anyone.”

ActBlue’s lawsuit argues that Paxton’s actions violate the organization’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The platform has asked a federal judge to declare Paxton’s investigation unconstitutional and bar him from continuing to pursue the case.

Paxton, meanwhile, has defended his investigation. “ActBlue is trying to take me down,” he wrote on social media platform X. “I sued the fundraising platform for deceiving Americans by lying about its donation processes that allow fraudulent and foreign donations. I will hold those who break the law accountable.”

The legal battle comes amid broader Republican scrutiny of ActBlue, which has raised approximately $19 billion for Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations since its founding in 2004, including more than $568 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

Paxton filed his lawsuit against ActBlue on April 20, seeking financial penalties and asking a state court to stop the platform from allowing donations through gift cards and prepaid debit cards. His suit alleges these payment methods could obscure donors’ identities and enable illegal contributions, including from foreign nationals.

ActBlue’s federal lawsuit claims Paxton’s timing reveals political motivation. The organization alleges that the Texas AG’s investigators began conducting undercover transactions on ActBlue’s platform on February 18, just one day after Democratic candidate James Talarico announced he had raised $2.5 million in 24 hours, with $2.2 million coming through ActBlue. Talarico could potentially face Paxton in the November election.

The lawsuit further alleges that Paxton filed his Texas case five days after national reporting described Talarico as a major fundraising threat who had raised more than $36 million through ActBlue.

The Democratic platform also accuses Paxton of selective prosecution, noting that he has never investigated WinRed, the Republican fundraising counterpart to ActBlue. The lawsuit contends that “Paxton has a history of targeting Democratic-aligned entities.”

According to ActBlue’s complaint, investigators from Paxton’s office attempted three times to use an American Express gift card on ActBlue’s platform, but all three attempts were rejected by the platform’s automated fraud-prevention tools. ActBlue claims Paxton nonetheless filed a lawsuit accusing the group of having “secretly resumed” accepting gift cards and failed to disclose the failed test transactions to the Texas court.

“This is a thinly veiled attempt to distract from Ken Paxton’s numerous legal and ethical issues ahead of next month’s runoff,” ActBlue spokeswoman De’Andra Roberts-LaBoo said in a statement. “If he and his Republican allies actually cared about donor fraud, they would work to strengthen security standards across the board, including within their own operations, rather than targeting ActBlue.”

The lawsuit comes amid broader Republican scrutiny of Democratic fundraising platforms. Three House committees—Administration, Judiciary and Oversight—have been investigating ActBlue for more than a year and issued a 2025 report titled “Fraud on ActBlue.”

ActBlue maintains it “has engaged in good faith at every turn” and has criticized the committees for sending “accusatory public correspondence” without engaging directly with the organization.

The legal dispute unfolds as the Democratic National Committee reportedly faces financial challenges, carrying more than $17.5 million in debt this winter, according to Federal Election Commission records.