After hitting his GOP foe for voting under an address where he no longer lived, the Tribune and ProPublica found the Democratic Senate candidate also appears to have done so.
Zach Despart
Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to map the fragmented 50-mile Texas border wall, a project that also found the state struggled with holdout landowners along the route. After it was published, the Legislature stopped funding the wall. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. His investigation on how Texas diverted Harvey aid away from areas most at risk for storms sparked a federal investigation. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
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Investigations
Ken Paxton has long crusaded against voter fraud. His Senate rival now accuses him of committing it.
James Talarico’s comments come after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found that the attorney general may have broken state law by voting using an address where he no longer appears to live.
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Investigations
Texas Democrats ask for investigation into Ken Paxton voter registration
The complaint comes after The Texas Tribune and ProPublica found the Texas attorney general repeatedly voted while registered at an address where he appears to no longer live.
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Investigations
Ken Paxton vowed to crack down on “illegal voting.” He may have violated Texas election law.
The Texas attorney general appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years — despite his warning voters that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records.”
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Ken Paxton wanted to limit forum shopping. Now lawyers say he’s improperly seeking favorable courts.
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune have identified at least 30 lawsuits filed by the attorney general over the past nine years that have a tenuous connection to the counties in which they were filed.
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Investigations
Trump’s DOJ will move forward with Colony Ridge settlement despite concerns from judge
The proposed $68 million settlement with a Texas land developer that the Justice Department had accused of preying on Hispanic residents includes no money for the victims but more than $20 million for police and immigration enforcement.
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Investigations
Trump’s DOJ plans to settle Colony Ridge case without compensating victims
The Biden administration sued a Texas land developer accused of duping tens of thousands of Hispanic residents. Trump’s DOJ is now offering an unprecedented settlement that experts say could target the very people who were harmed by the developer.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
A federal tool to check voter citizenship keeps making mistakes. It led to confusion in Texas.
DHS rolled out the revamped tool while it was still adding data. That led to widespread misidentification, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.
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Investigations
Gov. Greg Abbott, long a defender of states’ rights, embraces Trump’s push to expand presidential power
Defending Texas sovereignty has been central to Abbott’s political identity. Yet he has helped Trump erode states’ authority over elections, policing and deploying the National Guard.
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Investigations
DHS asked Texas to hand over driver’s license data for citizenship checks
It’s the latest step to pool confidential data that the Trump administration claims will help identify noncitizens on voter rolls and tighten immigration enforcement.
