Inside the Harris County Voter-Ads Complaint: 'African-American Literature,' 'Latin Music' and 27 Countries Listed as Targeting Tags

HOUSTON - The lawsuit the Attorney General's Office filed Thursday against the Harris County clerk's voter ads is, at its center, a list. According to the Texas Tribune's reading of the petition, the complaint says ads on Meta platforms - Facebook and Instagram - carried tags that intentionally directed them toward users with African, Asian and Latino-related interests and backgrounds: African-American literature, Latin music, Hispanic kitchen, East Asia, 27 different countries and several foreign cities, including Madrid and Bangkok. The ads, which encourage voters to make a plan to vote, began running in late September and early October, according to the petition.

The complaint names County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and Director of Communications Irene Nunez individually, the Houston Press reported, and asks a Harris County district judge for a temporary restraining order, temporary and permanent injunctions - and, in the Tribune's account, an order that the ads be pulled or reconfigured to remove all identifiers targeting voters along racial and ethnic lines. The filing puts the ad buy at $43,429. The lawsuit argues the targeting was unconstitutional because it prioritized some ethnicities and not others: 'There can be no legitimate reason for Harris County to intentionally target voter ethnicities, cultural interests, and countries, but not toward any European ethnicities, cultural interests, or countries,' the complaint said, 'never mind towards interests tailored specifically to those in Houston or Texas - those who would actually be voting in Harris County Elections.'

The county's answer, so far, is procedural and political at once. The Harris County Attorney's Office said it was reviewing the lawsuit, calling it a 'pathetic political distraction' in a statement on social media, and added that 'Harris County remains hyper-focused on ensuring every eligible voter's voice is heard and their votes protected, not sideshows that appease grandstanding.' U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, whose fuller statement ran in this station's earlier file, told the Tribune the ads 'do nothing more than tell neighbors when to vote and where to get information about voting.'

One part of the filing the state has not explained is its own author's distance from it. A statement from Attorney General Ken Paxton's office accused the clerk of running the ads 'in an effort to increase voter turnout among particular races and ethnicities,' and said Paxton was not participating in the lawsuit because he is on the ballot as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Paxton's office did not respond to the Tribune's questions about what point in the process he recused himself, or how the office was made aware of the ad targeting. Early voting ends Friday; the ads the suit targets are still running unless a judge says otherwise.