The Texas Attorney General’s Office sued Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth Thursday, accusing her office of running Facebook and Instagram get-out-the-vote ads targeting voters by race.
The suit asks the court to order the clerk to stop posting the ads.
By classifying based upon race when advertising to provide Harris County voters with election information, the County Clerk’s office exceeded its authority. It engaged in racially discriminatory advertising in an effort to increase voter turnout among particular races and ethnicities, but not others.
The Office of the Attorney General identified racial discrimination in the County Clerk’s targeting of their “Get Out the Vote” advertisements on Instagram and Facebook. Meta’s platforms allow advertisers to “select the demographics, interests and behaviors of people they want to see their ads.” Publicly available advertising data shows that the County Clerk’s office intentionally directed these ads to certain racial and ethnic groups, but avoided similarly targeting other groups. Meta’s Ad Library shows that the Harris County Clerk’s office spent an estimated $43,429 in the past thirty days on one set of advertisements that it set to be shown preferentially to certain populations.
The Office of the Attorney General Sues Harris County Clerk for Running Racially Discriminatory Voter Suppression Scheme That Could Harm the Integrity of Texas Elections: https://t.co/Gdqsm0wWbX
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) October 29, 2026
Paxton recused himself from the lawsuit since he is currently running for Senate.
The ads were part of the clerk's "Plan. Check. Vote!" campaign, according to the complaint. They used Meta's "detailed targeting" tags such as "African-American history," "Hispanic kitchen," "African-American literature" and "Latin dance.” The petition says the ads "intentionally target certain racial and ethnic groups (African-American, Asian, and South American or Latino groups), but do not target other demographics."
Hudspeth responded to the allegations on Thursday, saying her team is “confident that our voter outreach efforts are lawful” and that “the Meta audience subsets have been deactivated to avoid unnecessary distractions.”
🚨LAWSUIT FILED🚨 The TX Attorney General’s office is suing the Harris County Clerk and the Clerk’s communications director for running racially discriminatory ads. The Clerk’s office used Meta’s ad tools to intentionally show its “Get Out the Vote” ads to certain racial and ethnic groups while deliberately avoiding others. Meta’s Ad Library shows that the Harris County Clerk’s office spent an estimated $43,429 in the past thirty days By selecting who received election information based on race, the Clerk’s office went beyond its authority. It used discriminatory advertising in an attempt to increase voter turnout among specific races and ethnicities, but not others.
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) October 29, 2026
"The Harris County Clerk's Office does not engage in political rhetoric, nor do we seek to influence how any individual votes for a candidate or a ballot measure," she added.
The Harris County Attorney’s Office called the lawsuit a “pathetic political distraction” and that “Harris County remains hyper-focused on ensuring every eligible voter’s voice is heard and their votes protected, not sideshows that appease grandstanding.”
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