Paxton secures injunction against Denton ISD for electioneering

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured an agreed injunction with Denton ISD after suing the district for illegal electioneering.

On Feb. 5, Lindsay Lujan, Denton ISD’s director of special programs and principal of Alexander Elementary School, sent an email from her school address urging staff to vote in the upcoming Republican primary. Including a quote from a Texas superintendent warning that “if Texas educators do not come together and vote on a candidate that will support public schools, [they] are in trouble,” Lujan urged staff to do “[their] part.” She included a link to a list of candidates organized by whether they support or oppose public school education.

Jesus Lujan, principal of Borman Elementary School, sent out a similar email sometime in February from his school email address encouraging staff to vote, even if they aren’t Republicans, “for candidates who support public education and school funding.” Stating that “85% of primary votes in [Texas] want vouchers,” he emphasizes the importance of teachers and public schools turning out to vote in these elections.

Both principals stated within their emails that they’d allotted 30 minutes of coverage for employees to go vote during the primaries.

An email from @dentonisd is explicitly demanding that all staff go vote in the GOP primary to stop #schoolchoice candidates.

Promising to “cover” all school employees… but only if they vote in the GOP primary. The email sender is the district’s “Director of Special Programs.”… pic.twitter.com/hM9IZ6plWo

— Michael Quinn Sullivan 🇺🇸 (@MQSullivan) February 21, 2024

On Feb. 22, Paxton sued Denton ISD over those emails. The use of government resources to circulate voting guidelines to other public employees directly violated Texas’s prohibition against the use of “state or local funds or other resources of the district to electioneer for or against any candidate, measure, or political party,” Paxton’s office said in a news release.

The injunction orders Denton ISD employees to “not use any funds or resources of Denton ISD, including email, or other means to engage in electioneering in violation of the Texas Election Code.”

“School districts should be aware that illegal electioneering is criminal conduct and violators could be subject to criminal prosecution by local authorities,” Paxton’s office said in a statement. “While unable to criminally prosecute violators at this time, Attorney General Paxton is committed to using all available means to protect the integrity of Texas elections.”

Paxton has secured an injunction against Castleberry ISD and a restraining order against Frisco ISD. Additionally, the Office of the Attorney General has sued four other school districts in an effort “to crack down on the wave of illegal electioneering occurring across the state.”

To read the injunction, click here.

Part of this news story originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/23/ken-paxton-sue-denton-isd-texas/.