The Texas Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Harris County Clerk's office and its director of communication. The suit concerns "Get Out the Vote" ads that the office says were aimed at certain racial and ethnic groups and not others. Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth is named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the clerk's office used Meta's ad tools to target certain demographics on Instagram and Facebook. A release from the attorney general's office said the county "exceeded its authority" by classifying voters by race in its election advertising. The release also cited Meta's Ad Library, which it said showed the clerk's office spent an estimated $43,429 over the past thirty days on one set of ads set to be shown to certain populations.
The release said Attorney General Ken Paxton has recused himself from the lawsuit because he is a candidate on the November ballot.