Entity Controlled By Paxton Campaign Treasurer Helped Fund Primary Super PAC
Paxton Treasurer's Role In Dark Money Group Raises Coordination Concerns
The Republican Senate primary runoff election in Texas between incumbent Cornyn and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton was a war of attrition for outside spenders and super PACs, who greatly contributed to the more than $120 million dollars spent on attack ads going back and forth with one another leading up to the May 26 election. While Cornyn led in the spending department, both direct and indirect, Paxton had his fair share of help in the form of independent expenditures.
The primary provider of those expenditures backing Paxton is Lone Star Liberty PAC, a super PAC that legally can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money in support of or opposition to particular candidates. One major donor to Lone Star Liberty is an entity called Preserve Texas Inc, who have given $800,000 to the committee this year. Registered in Virginia, Preserve Texas’ sole incorporator and director is John Plishka, per articles of incorporation documents filed with the commonwealth. Plishka also acts as treasurer of Paxton's official campaign committee and victory fund JFC (joint fundraising committee).
Preserve Texas was incorporated on April 17, 2025—just a few days after Paxton officially announced his candidacy. According to FEC records, the entity has made no donations to any committee outside of Lone Star Liberty, the first being on February 11, 2026. As a corporate entity, Preserve Texas is not required to disclose how or from whom they raised their money, classifying their donations as “dark money”.
According to Virginia business records, Preserve Texas is not in good standing and is currently “Pending Inactive” due to failure to pay annual fees, fines they have possibly incurred, and not filing annual reports which were due April 30. Despite this, Preserve Texas still functioned as a pass-through for donations to the pro-Paxton super PAC, making its largest donation ($600,000) on May 4.
Super PACs and campaigns are forbidden from engaging in coordination, per FEC regulations—and Plishka being Paxton's campaign treasurer and also the sole director of an entity funding public messaging against his opponents definitely raises an eyebrow. However, in most cases these possible infractions are extremely difficult to prove—let alone penalize—due to the presence of gray areas and loopholes that exist within the framework of criteria needed for the Federal Elections Commission to determine wrongdoing beyond doubt.
Suarav Ghosh, director of Federal campaign finance reform for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center had this to say when asked about campaign-super PAC coordination:
“Super PACs and dark money groups frequently coordinate with candidates’ campaigns, violating federal laws prohibiting such coordination. Yet these groups are not held accountable because the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which is charged with enforcing federal campaign finance laws, has consistently failed to act, even when presented with clear evidence of coordination.”
“In the 16 years since Citizens United,” Ghosh continues, “the FEC’s wholesale failure to enforce the law has fostered a culture in which outside groups that work hand in glove with candidates have facilitated real or apparent corruption, thereby ensuring voters’ needs take a backseat to the wealthy special interests pouring millions of dollars into super PACs each election cycle."
While Plishka could not be reached for comment, new committee disclosures are on the horizon. Time will soon tell if Preserve Texas injected more money into the race in the days leading up to the runoff—and if so, how much? Not only that, as Paxton heads into the general election against Democrat James Talarico, will the organization continue the trend?
We will have to wait and see.