The race between Paxton and Cornyn has quickly turned ugly and will likely be one of the most expensive Republican primaries of the 2026 elections, as the two flex their conservative chops and ties to President Donald Trump.

Paxton’s Senate launch video from April 9 includes footage of him conversing with uniformed Collin County constables from Precincts 1 and 4, clips that were also previously used in his campaign for attorney general.

Texas’s election law regulating political advertising and campaign communications states that public officials or government employees “may not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising.”

The resources in this instance are the officer uniforms issued and paid for by the county government, which could imply an endorsement of Paxton. The ethics commission, relying on an advisory opinion from 2019, has previously said the uniforms are not permissible unless purchased personally by the officers.

It’s unclear if the officers in question owned their uniforms or the local government provided them, but the county allocates a budget for constable uniforms.

“From what I understand, the police is not supposed to be using those uniforms in any sort of public display beyond their own professional services,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen.

The Paxton campaign did not provide comment. Neither of the Collin County Constable precincts responded to requests for comment.

During his 2020 reelection campaign, a Cornyn ad featuring a McLennan County Sheriff’s Office detective appears to violate the same ethics laws. The Cornyn campaign declined to comment.

The Texas Ethics Commission is an independent state agency that investigates and determines ethics law violations of public officials that can result in civil fines. It’s unclear whether Paxton could face repercussions from the commission, which refers unpaid fines of more than $1,000 to his office for enforcement.

Paxton has scuffled with the agency in the past, and his office has rarely enforced breaches of the campaign finance ethics laws, but did pay more than $11,000 in delinquent ethics fines last year after inquiries by the Texas Tribune, according to the outlet.

“It certainly adds a twist as to whether or not the ethical rules are going to be honored, and that would be up to Paxton,” Holman said.

Apparent violations of ethics laws are not uncommon among politicians in both parties across the country. Last year, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) used uniformed local law enforcement officials in an ad for his Senate campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Most recently, the Washington Examiner revealed that Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), running for Senate in New Hampshire, appeared to misuse city resources in his campaign launch in a near-identical fashion to Paxton. Pappas seemed to violate the policies of Manchester, New Hampshire, prohibiting the use of government employees and equipment for political activity by featuring city firefighters and firemen in an ad.

In Texas, the ethics code allows government resources in campaign advertising if they are “equally accessible to the public,” but otherwise restricts their use. The 2019 advisory opinion found that officials cannot feature the resources if they have “custody or possession” of them.

Texas Senate elections are perennial contests that Democrats have insisted are prime pickup opportunities for over a decade, though they’ve yet to unseat Cruz or Cornyn. Nonpartisan election forecasters consider the seat safely in Republican territory.

SENATE DEMOCRATS SEE HOPE FOR MIDTERMS WITH 2024 DOWNBALLOT RESULTS

Cornyn’s ultimate reelection fight for a fifth term will likely come in the primary, where some Republicans are already drawing battle lines.

Cornyn is backed by the Senate GOP’s campaign arm and other Republican senators, while Paxton, a Make America Great Again firebrand, has been endorsed by Reps. Lance Gooden (R-TX) and Troy Nehls (R-TX). Cruz is notably staying neutral.