Texas AG Ken Paxton owes overdue property taxes in Hawaii

You have to hand it to Ken Paxton’s opponents: digging up a $4,551.77 property tax bill in Hawaii is a new level of opposition research. The man has spent years fighting the actual federal government over border policy and election integrity, and this is what they think will move voters? A late payment on a blind trust’s beach property? It reads less like a scandal and more like a Tuesday afternoon for half the homeowners in America.

The story is a distraction from the real fight. Paxton’s office has been a bulldog against Washington overreach, and his AG tenure has been defined by actual legal battles, not clerical oversights. If the worst thing the left can find is an unpaid fee on a property he likely never set foot on, that tells you more about the desperation of his opponents than it does about his fitness for the Senate. Most people juggle a mortgage, property taxes, and a dozen other bills; a $4,500 lapse is a nuisance, not a character flaw.

Now, fairness requires we say this: the lapse is a legitimate target, and he should own it. No one likes writing that check to the tax man, but if you own property, you pay the piper. Paxton should just pay it, apologize for the oversight, and move on. But the media’s gleeful coverage of this non-story reveals the double standard. When a Democrat misses a tax payment, it’s a private matter. When a conservative like Paxton does it, it’s a front-page warning to the Republic.

Voters care about the border, the economy, and the rule of law. They don’t care about a blind trust in Hawaii. Paxton’s record on the issues that matter is why he’s in this race. This story is a tempest in a teacup, and the only people blowing on it are the ones who know they can’t beat him on substance. Pay the bill, Ken, and get back to work. The rest of us have real problems to worry about.