Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a petition for an injunction and temporary restraining order against Denton ISD school officials who have been accused of electioneering.
A February 5 email surfaced that was sent by Denton ISD Alexander Elementary principal Lindsay Luján — who also serves as the district’s director of special programs — addressed to the campus staff. The communication, sent through the official Denton ISD email system, detailed a plan to get district employees to vote against candidates that favor school choice.
The email communication stated that school officials would provide as much “coverage,” or temporary substitutes, as necessary so that the employees could “go and vote in the Texas Republican Primary” during school work hours.
“We need to do our part for our Texas Public Schools! Here is a list of all candidates and whether or not [they] SUPPORT or OPPOSE Public School Education,” the email continued. It provided a link to a Texas 4 Public Education website with an extensive database that rates state office candidates based on their adherence to purportedly left-wing positions, like opposition to school choice and support for teaching critical race theory in public schools.
Lindsay Luján’s spouse, Jesus Luján, the principal of Borman Elementary in Denton ISD, sent out a similar email to the staff at his school, urging them to “vote for candidates who support public education and school funding in the Republican primaries, no matter what your party affiliation is, Republican or Democrat.”
He added, “Please know that, historically, 85% of PRIMARY voters in TX want vouchers. That’s why it is so important that teachers and public school and funding advocates show up in the primaries.”
Paxton wrote on the social media platform X that such actions by school officials constitute “illegal electioneering under the election code, which is completely unacceptable. It is a criminal offense for an officer or employee of a school district to knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising.”
The attorney general further claimed, “Unfortunately, the Court of Criminal Appeals incorrectly decided that the Texas Attorney General cannot prosecute criminal election offenses, Dade Phelan and the Republican House refused to fix this issue during session. This means my office cannot criminally prosecute this type of activity or even large-scale voter fraud that changes the outcome of elections in this state.”
However, Paxton’s hands were not completely tied in this instance. On behalf of the State of Texas, he filed suit in a district court in Denton County to enjoin the defendants’ “ultra vires spending of Denton Independent School District funds to electioneer for or against any candidate in violation of Sections 11.169 and 45.105(c) of the Education Code and their ultra vires use of public funds and internal mail systems for political advertising in violation of Sections 255.003(a) and 255.0031(a) of the Election Code.”
The suit names Lindsay Luján, Jesus Luján, and the Denton ISD school board members as defendants.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) posted on X, claiming that the email by Lindsay Luján was “absolutely electioneering!”
He added, “At this point I think we need to have a hearing concerning electioneering within ISDs, then I will file additional legislation if necessary.”
DX reached out to Denton ISD chief communications officer Julie Zwahr for comment but did not immediately receive a response.