Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces an uphill climb in Fort Bend County as he runs for U.S. Senate on the Nov. 3 ballot.

A Texas Southern University poll of 1,200 likely Fort Bend voters, conducted between Sept. 9 and Oct. 2, found Democrat James Talarico leading Paxton 56 percent to 38 percent. Libertarian Ted Brown drew 2 percent. The poll carried a margin of error of 2.83 percent.

Statewide, the race is tighter. A University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs survey, reported by Houston Public Media, put Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent among likely voters, within the poll's 2-point margin of error.

Pollster Mark Jones of Rice University's Baker Institute told Houston Public Media that the Fort Bend numbers track broader trends. "If you sort of parse out the numbers, that would translate into a statewide election where Paxton is down by two or three," Jones said.

Fort Bend County Precinct 2, which covers Missouri City, Stafford, Fresno and Sienna, sits in the northeastern portion of the county, according to Houston Public Media's coverage of local races. Voters there will see Paxton's name alongside several contested county seats.

Experience and public service

According to his official attorney general biography, Paxton, 63, took office Jan. 5, 2015, after winning election in 2014. He won reelection in 2018 and 2022. He previously represented Texas House District 70 for 10 years and was elected to the Texas Senate in 2012, representing Senate District 8 in Collin and Dallas counties.

Paxton earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and an MBA from Baylor University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. His legal career included work at Strasburger & Price, as in-house counsel for J.C. Penney, and running his own McKinney law practice for 14 years, according to that biography.

As attorney general, Paxton's office has filed at least two dozen lawsuits against large tech companies in the past five years, according to Houston Public Media. Those include settlements of $1.4 billion each with Meta and Google over data-privacy violations. The settlement money goes to the Texas State Treasury.

Campaign priorities

On his campaign website, Paxton says he would support President Donald Trump's agenda, including tax cuts, border security and deportations. He calls himself "a strong fiscal conservative who will fight to cut taxes and stop the wasteful spending that has led to our nation being in over $36 trillion dollars in debt." He supports completing the border wall, protecting gun rights and opposing abortion.

Paxton also calls for greater transparency in food and healthcare systems, reduced regulation of energy companies, and a regulatory framework supporting digital assets, including passage of the CLARITY Act. These are his stated campaign positions.

He has received endorsements from Gun Owners of America, Club for Growth PAC, Turning Point Action, Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND, Texas Alliance for Life and the Houston Police Officers' Union, among others, according to BallotReady profile data.

The general election is Nov. 3. Early voting begins Oct. 19.