Ken Paxton-Beto O’Rourke legal battle extended for now, Fort Worth judge says
The legal battle between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic activist Beto O’Rourke is going to take a little while longer, a Tarrant County district judge said Thursday.
O’Rourke and Paxton will have to wait until Sep. 2 to find out whether 348th District Court Judge Megan Fahey will grant a temporary injunction against O’Rourke and the former Texas congressman’s nonprofit, Powered by People. The reason for the delay is the breakneck speed at which the case is proceeding: At Thursday morning’s hearing, Fahey said she had not yet had the chance to read relevant court filings that were made in the middle of the night.
If Fahey grants that injunction, O’Rourke and his group would be barred from raising and using funds to support the activities of Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to prevent a quorum on congressional redistricting, according to court documents.
That group of lawmakers will return to the state Friday after the special legislative session ends, the lawmakers said in a statement Thursday. Among the conditions of their return are that House Speaker Dustin Burrows adjourns the session, and that California unveils its redistricting maps meant to “neutralize” the effect of Texas’ new ones.
Also on the table at the hearing was a motion filed by O’Rourke’s attorneys, which, if granted, would see the proceedings in Paxton’s lawsuit moved to El Paso County, according to court records.
El Paso is the proper venue for the case because the kind of relief Paxton is seeking requires proceedings to be held where the defendant lives and does business, O’Rourke’s attorneys argued. For the state, attorney Robert Farquharson argued that O’Rourke’s Aug. 9 rally in Fort Worth makes it appropriate for Tarrant County to host the case.
Fahey did not immediately issue a ruling on that motion at Thursday’s hearing.
The judge also has not yet ruled on Paxton’s motion to hold O’Rourke in contempt of court for holding the Fort Worth rally following her temporary restraining order issued in the case after Paxton filed the lawsuit on Aug. 8.
This story was originally published August 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM.
