A federal judge in Massachusetts fired a warning shot at a lawsuit filed by far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office against the Democratic Party fundraising platform, ActBlue.
According to Texas-based political reporter Bayliss Wagner, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns "ruled that ActBlue's countersuit against Texas AG Ken Paxton is likely to prevail on the merits, including their allegation that his lawsuit against the Dem fundraising behemoth violates the First Amendment."
Paxton, a scandal-plagued figure currently challenging John Cornyn in the Texas Republican U.S. Senate primary, filed the lawsuit in state court in April, alleging that ActBlue was knowingly facilitating illegal donations from people outside the United States or who had already hit donation limits. It's part of his yearslong crusade against the Massachusetts-based entity, which since its founding in 2004 has grown into one of the largest platforms for transferring money to Democratic Party candidates.
However, Stearns noted in his order that ActBlue's countersuit is likely to prevail, under the precedent set just last week by the Supreme Court's decision in First Choice Women's Resource Centers v. Davenport. That decision, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, held New Jersey's investigation into an anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy center" violated the First Amendment by seeking to expose its confidential donor information.
"In light of the United States Supreme Court's decision ... and other established precedent defining First Amendment associational protections, the court is tentatively of the opinion that plaintiffs ActBlue LLC, ActBlue Civics, Inc., ATS, Inc., and ActBlue Charities, Inc. (collectively, ActBlue) are likely to prevail on some, if not all, elements of Count I of their Complaint," stated Stearns.
His order compelled Paxton to "file a response to both the Complaint and the motion for preliminary injunction by May 27, 2026," and scheduled the hearing on whether to enjoin Paxton's lawsuit on June 4.
