Texas AG, GOP Senate candidate Paxton claims 3 homes as primary residences: report

Texas GOP Senate candidate state Attorney General Ken Paxton claims three homes as primary residences, which results in low mortgage interest rates, and a homestead tax break on two of the properties, according to a news report Thursday.

Paxton and his now-estranged wife, Angela, have long owned a $1.5 million house in a gated community outside Dallas, and in 2015 bought another home in Austin, followed by another one in the capital city, the Associated Press reported.

The Dallas home is where the family has resided and where the Paxtons are registered to vote. Angela Paxton represents the state Senate district that includes Dallas. Her husband held that seat before his election in 2014 for attorney general.

Paxton is  running for Sen. John Cornyn's seat in the GOP primary race, and his wife announced earlier this month that she had filed for divorce.

According to the AP's review of public records, the three houses are all listed as the Paxtons' primary residence, which gave them low interest rates, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in payments over the life of the loans. 

Also, in 2018, the Paxtons submitted paperwork for and received homestead property tax breaks for the Dallas home.

Homestead property tax breaks are for homeowners to collect for one property that is their primary home.

The Paxtons also have a mortgage on a home in College Station, Texas, and a $1.2 million mortgage on a “5 bedroom luxury cabin” in Broken Bow, Okla., per the news wire. 

Both mortgages state that the properties cannot be rented out, but the College Station home has been listed for rent on real estate websites on-and-off since at least 2022, and the Oklahoma cabin is for rent on Airbnb and other short-term rental sites.

The Paxtons didn't respond to the AP's requests for comment.

This story, based on an Associated Press story, has been corrected to reflect that the Paxtons didn’t receive an impermissible homestead tax break in 2018 for one of their Austin homes. That benefit was transferred to the Paxtons from a previous owner for the remainder of that year.