A federal judge in Boston on Thursday warned that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s civil case against Democratic fundraising giant ActBlue could chill political speech, as the platform pushed for an emergency court order to halt his investigation and related state lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns pressed lawyers on whether Paxton’s Texas suit, filed in April, risks unconstitutionally scaring off donors who might otherwise use ActBlue. He added that the investigation itself could have a chilling effect on contributions, according to Reuters. The questions came as Stearns heard arguments on ActBlue’s request for a preliminary injunction in his Boston courtroom.
Paxton’s petition in Texas state court, filed April 20, accuses ActBlue of misleading Congress in 2024 about no longer accepting gift cards and prepaid debit cards, and seeks civil penalties along with an order barring those donations, as reported by The Dallas Morning News. Paxton has argued that ActBlue’s policies let foreign or otherwise ineligible donors hide who they are, a characterization the platform disputes.
ActBlue fired back on May 1 with a federal lawsuit in Boston, asking a judge to declare Paxton’s probe and Texas case unconstitutional and to block any further enforcement, according to a company press release on PR Newswire. The filing says Paxton’s team conducted undercover transactions on the site and notes that the investigation followed a fundraising spike for Paxton’s Democratic opponent.
Judge presses First Amendment risk
Stearns had already signaled concern about the case. In a tentative order on May 7, he said ActBlue was likely to succeed on at least some of its First Amendment claims, and at Thursday’s hearing he again raised the prospect that donors could be deterred from giving, Reuters reported.
In court filings, Paxton spokeswoman Lauren Saeger wrote that “Texans care a lot about secure elections.” ActBlue lawyer Amanda Masselam Strachan countered that the lawsuit fits what she described as a broader pattern of Paxton using his office against political opponents, according to Reuters.
What it means for donors and campaigns
ActBlue’s federal complaint notes that the platform has raised nearly $19 billion for Democrats and progressive causes since 2004 and processed about $1.78 billion in 2025 alone, figures it says make any restriction on its operations nationally significant, according to Fox News. Lawyers for both sides told the court the dispute raises new questions about where state consumer-protection laws end and protected political speech and association begin.
Next steps
Stearns will now decide whether to grant ActBlue’s request for a preliminary injunction while the legal fight continues in both Massachusetts federal court and Texas state court. Any ruling could shape how online fundraising platforms operate in the thick of an election year, as The Dallas Morning News notes.
For now, both ActBlue and Paxton’s office have told the court they intend to press ahead, leaving Stearns to sort out whether the Texas investigation is a straightforward enforcement action or an act of political payback dressed up as consumer protection.
