About & method

What this is

A reference on the 27 faith leaders the Ken Paxton U.S. Senate campaign listed as its “Pastors for Paxton” coalition on Oct. 16, 2026. For each, it records the church and city, the signer’s role and public or political positions, any documented ties to Paxton, his campaigns or the Texas Office of the Attorney General, and any publicly reported controversies.

It is published by Black Mesa Research Labs (BMRL), an independent research operation not affiliated with any party, candidate, campaign, PAC, church or government agency.

Sourcing standards

• The list is reproduced exactly as the campaign released it, including how churches are named.
• Matches of a person to a church are confirmed from the church’s own site, denominational directories, or news coverage, and graded high, medium or low confidence. Anything below high is flagged on the page.
• Ties are documented connections — official OAG actions, appointments, payments, campaign events, contributions, earlier endorsements, family relationships reported in the press. A tie is not evidence of a favor. Actions that apply to all churches are marked “general.”
• Controversies must come from reputable news organizations or court and government records. Each carries its status (allegation, lawsuit filed, ruling, dismissed…) and the subject’s reported response. Blogs, social posts and partisan aggregators are not used.
• Church staff: every church was also checked for reported misconduct by other pastors, youth and children’s ministry staff, elders and church schools. Such items are labeled “about the church” and are never attributed to the signer.
• Nothing found is recorded too, with what was searched, in the search log. A blank is a result, not an omission.
• No private details: no home addresses, family members (except where a family tie to the candidate is itself publicly reported), health or finances.

Known gaps

Campaign finance: contributions from the signers to Ken Paxton for Senate were checked in FEC records, which itemize only donors giving more than $200 in a cycle. Texas Ethics Commission records for Paxton’s earlier state campaigns have not yet been checked. A few roles rest only on church pages or the campaign list, and one signer’s affiliation (Wes Griffin) could not be verified; each is flagged on its profile.

Corrections & responses

If anything here is inaccurate, out of date, or missing context, contact BMRL through blackmesalabs.org with the page and a source. Verified corrections are made promptly and noted in the changelog. Anyone named may submit a response for publication next to the relevant entry.

How to cite

Black Mesa Research Labs. Pastors for Paxton: Signers, Churches and the Record. Compiled October 2026. Available at: https://pastors4paxton.blackmesalabs.org

For a specific item, cite the primary source linked beside it.

License

The compiled dataset is released under CC BY 4.0. Linked articles and records belong to their publishers.