Harris County issues temporary fix for Texas lawsuit on alleged racially-targeted election ads
HOUSTON - Harris County officials say they made a temporary agreement with the Texas Attorney General's Office in response to a lawsuit claiming the county was targeting certain audiences in advertisements for the midterm election.
‘Interim agreement’ for lawsuit against Harris County
What we know:
The Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Harris County Clerk and the clerk's office's communications director.
According to the office, the county Elections Department was targeting African-American, Asian, and Latino audiences with different social media advertisements encouraging residents to "Plan. Check. Vote!" ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The state claims the ads were targeting different audiences through interests such as "African-American history, "Hispanic kitchen" and "Latin dance."
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Texas sues Harris County clerk over voter ads allegedly targeting racial, ethnic groups
The Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Harris County clerk and the clerk's office’s communications director alleging the county is violating the Texas Constitution by targeting certain racial and ethnic groups with voter awareness advertisements.
Friday's statement from Interim Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin, who is running for the permanent position, says, "To keep the focus on the important election at hand, the audience targeting on the ads in question had already been removed."
The statement also denies the lawsuit's allegations, stating the ads "contain nonpartisan information about voting and were one part of a broader voter outreach effort that reached county residents through a variety of channels." Kamin's office goes on to say that the county learned about the lawsuit through a press release instead of direct communication from the AG's office.
"Ken Paxton is clearly grasping at straws, trying to remain relevant and manufacture distractions," the statement reads. "The Agreement is a win for Harris County, ensuring the Attorney General’s preposterous and baseless claims do not take away time and resources from critical county operations—Paxton’s thinly veiled political stunt has taken enough of our time."
More on the lawsuit
Dig deeper:
The lawsuit argues that county officials violated the Texas Constitution's equal rights protections by targeting voter awareness advertisements toward certain racial and ethnic groups, but not others.
The state requested a temporary restraining order requiring Harris County to immediately deactivate the advertisements or remove the racial and ethnic targeting criteria.
Officials were also seeking temporary and permanent injunctions prohibiting similar advertising practices.
The attorney general’s office says Attorney General Ken Paxton removed himself from the lawsuit because he is a candidate in the Nov. 3 midterm. He is running against Democrat James Talarico for U.S. Senate.
‘Legal victory’
The other side:
The AG office says they "secured a legal victory" with their lawsuit, stating that the Harris County Clerk's Office will remove the ads in question and keep them from being reactivated "during the applicable election period."
Read their full press release here.
What we don't know:
It's not clear if the lawsuit will continue following the election.
The Source: Previous FOX 26 reporting, a statement from the office of Interim Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin, and a press release from the Office of the Attorney General.