Ken Paxton

Ken Paxton has served as Texas Attorney General since January 2015, re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022, making him one of the longest-tenured and most consequential state attorneys general in America. Born in North Dakota to a military family and raised on bases across the country, Paxton earned a bachelor's degree and MBA from Baylor University before obtaining his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He spent fourteen years running his own law firm and served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2002 before moving to the Texas Senate in 2012. As AG, Paxton has been the legal enforcement arm of Texas's uncompromising pro-Israel posture — transforming the state's anti-BDS statutes from aspirational legislation into actively prosecuted policy.

Paxton has issued formal guidance letters clarifying that Texas law prohibits all state agencies and political subdivisions from contracting with any company engaged in BDS activity targeting Israel, covering not only direct boycotts but ESG-driven divestment strategies that functionally boycott the Israeli economy. His office has pursued enforcement actions against vendors attempting to use ESG frameworks as a workaround, establishing Texas as the model for how state law enforcement can operationalize pro-Israel economic protection. Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, Paxton organized and led a coalition of state attorneys general in a joint statement condemning Hamas and affirming Israel's right to self-defense — one of the first collective AGs' responses to the attack.

Paxton's legal approach to pro-Israel advocacy — grounding it in enforceable contract law rather than resolutions and rhetoric — has been replicated by attorneys general in more than twenty states. The Paxton model demonstrates that the most durable pro-Israel policies are those backed by legal consequence, not merely political expression. His survival of a 2023 impeachment proceeding, acquittal by the Texas Senate, and reaffirmation by Texas voters reflects the depth of his constituency's support for his aggressive governing style. At Rank 10, Paxton is the legal enforcer who ensures that when Texas says it stands with Israel, it means it under penalty of law.