Ken Paxton campaign scrambles to hide registered Democrat girlfriend from voters: NYT

Ken Paxton's Senate campaign is going to great lengths to keep his new romantic partner far away from voters.

Tracy Duhon, a New Orleans author who has built a personal brand around Christian faith and redemption, is registered to vote as a Democrat in Louisiana, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Aides to Paxton, the Republican Attorney General of Texas, have kept her off the campaign trail, out of his ads and away from political reporters, according to the report.

Duhon came into Paxton's life shortly before he launched his Senate bid, and the two have since traveled abroad and spent holidays together, The Times reported. She has turned up only in fleeting bystander videos, including clips of the pair boarding a plane to Iceland and walking hand in hand in London. An older video that surfaced this month shows them celebrating New Year's Eve 2024 in Dubai alongside two U.S. fugitives.

The couple is also linked to a five-bedroom house in a gated Frisco community that a trust with unnamed beneficiaries bought in February. Paxton recently used the home as his mailing address, and police records show Duhon was contacted several times this year after false burglary alarms went off there.

Taxpayers have also picked up part of the tab. Paxton has visited the New Orleans area at least five times since mid-2024, state travel records show, and his office had no records of official business for three of those trips. The state was billed more than $13,000 for his security detail on them.

Duhon co-founded the Christian nonprofit Giving Hope NOLA with her ex-husband, Troy Duhon, a car dealership magnate. In May 2024, she posed with Paxton at the Kentucky Derby. She filed for divorce two months later, after 35 years of marriage, according to her book. Her 2025 book accuses her ex-husband of infidelity but never mentions Paxton.

Paxton's wife, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce in July 2025 on "biblical grounds." Her filing says the couple had not lived together as spouses since June 2024, one month after the Derby.

Paxton's campaign did not answer The Times' questions. Instead, it went after the dating history of his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, who leads Paxton in most polls.

"This is a disgusting, invasive story that has nothing to do with the issues Texans care about," campaign spokeswoman Madison Cercy said in an email.

Tracy Duhon did not respond to interview requests from The Times. Troy Duhon and Angela Paxton declined to comment for The Times.