Harris County removes audience tags from get-out-the-vote ads targeted by Texas AG’s office lawsuit

The Harris County Clerk’s Office on Thursday night changed advertising settings on online get-out-the-vote ads after the Texas Attorney General’s Office sued over settings they described as “racially discriminatory” in targeting certain voters.

The Attorney General’s Office sued the clerk Thursday for promoting get-out-the-vote ads, alleging they targeted Black, Latino and Asian voters while excluding “European ethnicities.”

The lawsuit asked a Harris County district judge to order the social media ads to be pulled or reconfigured to remove all identifiers targeting voters along racial and ethnic lines.

In a statement late Thursday, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said the audience tags on the ads had been removed “to avoid unnecessary distractions” from the election.

It is unclear how the removal of the audience tags affects the Attorney General Office’s suit.

The lawsuit argues that ads on Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram included tags that intentionally directed them toward users with African, Asian and Latino-related interests and backgrounds.

The listed tags included African-American literature, Latin music, Hispanic kitchen, East Asia, 27 different countries and several foreign cities, including Madrid and Bangkok.

The lawsuit argues the clerk’s office acted unconstitutionally by using ad targeting that prioritizes people of certain ethnicities but 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, never mind towards interests tailored specifically to those in Houston or Texas — those who would actually be voting in Harris County Elections,” the lawsuit said.

The ads, which encourage voters to make a plan to vote, began running in late September and early October, according to the petition.

“Every moment that these advertisements remain active and improperly targeting users based on their race or ethnicity, Defendants are violating the Texas Constitution,” the lawsuit read.

The Harris County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the lawsuit, calling it a “pathetic political distraction” in a statement on social media.

“Harris County remains hyper-focused on ensuring every eligible voter’s voice is heard and their votes protected, not sideshows that appease grandstanding,” the statement read.

A statement from Paxton’s office accused the Harris County clerk of running the ads “in an effort to increase voter turnout among particular races and ethnicities.”

The statement also 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 questions about what point in the lawsuit process the attorney general recused himself or how the office was made aware of the ad targeting.

U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, a Democrat who represents part of Houston, condemned the lawsuit in a social media statement that accused Paxton of wanting “to stop Houstonians from going to the polls.”

“He’s whining about ads that do nothing more than tell neighbors when to vote and where to get information about voting,” Menefee said. “Paxton is upset that diverse voters across Harris County are making their voices heard.”

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