Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been blocked from suing ActBlue, as his lawsuit was declared “retaliatory” by a federal judge.
Paxton had sued the Democrat fundraising platform in April, claiming it misled consumers and enabled fraudulent and potentially illegal political donations. However, a district judge in Boston decided the lawsuit was actually filed in response to ActBlue opposing Paxton’s Senate campaign.
ActBlue has processed more than $16 billion in donations since its founding in 2004 and serves as a central fundraising tool for Democrat candidates and causes nationwide.
Background
Specifically, Paxton’s lawsuit had accused ActBlue of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by falsely claiming it had implemented safeguards to prevent unlawful contributions—including those from foreign nationals—while continuing to allow payment methods that can obscure donor identity.
“We want American elections controlled by donations from U.S. citizens, not from overseas,” Paxton told Chris Salcedo in an interview. “And that’s why we’ve always been suspicious, just because of the large volume of donations that ActBlue seems to get, that other countries are illegally funneling money through ActBlue, and the Democrats are accepting it.”
The lawsuit also pointed to outside investigations that had uncovered large donations attributed to individuals who denied ever making them, or did not have the means of doing so.
ActBlue then filed a federal lawsuit on May 1, alleging that Paxton had brought the state action as retaliation against the platform for its facilitation of political donations to Democrat candidates—specifically, Paxton’s Democrat opponent for Texas’ U.S. Senate seat, James Talarico.
Because the platform is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, that is where the case was filed.
The Ruling
On June 11, Massachusetts District Judge Richard Stearns—a Clinton appointee—agreed with ActBlue that Paxton’s lawsuit was retaliatory.
“Paxton’s public statements in the wake of filing the case against ActBlue reveal his true motivation,” wrote Stearns. “While a prosecutor is entitled to a large degree of prosecutorial discretion and has a right to make a considered public accounting of his actions, Paxton did not hesitate in drawing a connection between the lawsuit and his candidacy for Senate.”
Talarico’s campaign has indeed been heavily funded by ActBlue. On February 18, Talarico announced that his fledgling Senate campaign had raised $2.5 million in a single day—$2.2 million of which originated through ActBlue.
Judge Stearns pointed out that Paxton filed his lawsuit against ActBlue on April 20, 2026—just five days after Talarico filed a report with the Federal Election Commission listing his net fundraising results for the first quarter of 2026.
However, Stearns acknowledged in the ruling that Paxton began investigating ActBlue as early as 2023.
Moreover, Paxton did not find out he would be the Republican nominee—and therefore square off with Talarico—until after winning the runoff election against incumbent John Cornyn on May 26, 2026, a full month after he had filed the lawsuit.
Nonetheless, Stearns decided to block Paxton’s lawsuit, prohibiting him from taking legal action against ActBlue related to the claims at hand.
“For the foregoing reasons, ActBlue’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction is ALLOWED,” wrote Steans. “Paxton and each of his agents and employees are hereby ENJOINED and RESTRAINED from continuing to litigate the Texas state civil enforcement action, State of Texas v. ActBlue LLC … or from bringing any new state civil enforcement action premised on the same conduct.”
Paxton has already appealed the decision to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, which operates out of the same Boston courthouse. It is considered a more liberal-leaning court.
“I will be appealing this flawed ruling by a Clinton-appointed Massachusetts judge,” Paxton commented on X. “Texas has every right to enforce its own laws to protect our citizens, and we will continue to fight to hold ActBlue accountable.”
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