Accountability Matters • Investigative

Who Is Tonja Michelle Smith?
Dual Roles, Public Office, and the Question of Transparency in Texas

Two employers. Two paychecks. One voice. When a taxpayer-funded office and a political campaign share a messenger, whose message is it?

In Texas, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) speaks “for the people.” Campaigns speak for candidates. When the same person draws pay from both — and uses a powerful social account to promote policy and litigation — the lines blur. This page assembles public records and on-the-record statements to map those lines with clarity.

Public Records Campaign Finance Education Policy Open Government

"I work for Attorney General Paxton in the Office of Attorney General for 13 years... I'm intricately involved in these cases." -

"I work for Attorney General Paxton in the Office of Attorney General for 13 years... I'm intricately involved in these cases." -

Political History & Overlapping Roles

Tonja Michelle Smith has been a consistent presence in Texas politics for more than a decade. After serving on the Rockwall City Council (2011–2013), she moved quickly into state-level advocacy, taking leadership positions with Concerned Women for America of Texas. From there, she entered Republican campaign politics — joining Angela Paxton’s Senate campaign (2017–2019), then managing Ken Paxton’s campaign for Attorney General (2018–2019).

By late 2020, Smith returned to the Office of the Attorney General as a senior advisor to Ken Paxton, while also appearing on campaign finance reports for both Ken Paxton and Shelley Luther. In fact, 2020 filings show her drawing pay simultaneously from the OAG, the Paxton campaign, and Luther’s campaign — raising questions about how one political operative could serve three masters at once.

State payroll records from 2022 through 2025 confirm Smith’s role as a high-paid senior advisor at OAG, receiving multiple one-time merit payments for “job performance.” Meanwhile, her campaign work continued, blurring lines between taxpayer-funded government communications and partisan electioneering.

The pattern is clear: Michelle Smith’s career has consistently intertwined state employment with political campaigns. The 2020 overlap of OAG payroll and campaign disbursements stands out as a critical moment when Texans had no clear way to separate her roles.

  • "They don't think like us."

  • SOH is "our" client; Taxpayer's employee engaging in OAG discussion on her "personal" account

  • SOS is "our" client; Taxpayer's employee engaging in OAG discussion on her "personal" account

  • Your clock is ticking

  • "our" anti-slapp law

    "Our" anti-slapp law: Is this taxpayer employee part of the Legislative Branch?

  • "We" will have closed primaries: Who is closing the primaries, exactly?

  • Taxpayer's employee claims "Jared is a traitor to Texas"

  • Taxpayer's employee claims accusing Ken Paxton is defamation

  • Taxpayer's employee threatens people

  • Taxpayer's employee campaigning against the taxpayer's elected employee

  • Taxpayer's employee engaging in OAG discussion on her "personal" account

  • How would she know?

  • Campaigning for Shelley Luther

  • I thought the SOH was "their" client?

One Uniform at a Time

Wearing the grocery store apron means you ring up groceries on the store’s register. If you want to sell your softball team’s fundraiser candy, you take off the apron, step outside, and use your own box and your own reader. You don’t switch back and forth at the same register.

That’s the idea behind the rules: government work (apron) and campaign work (fundraiser) must use different time, tools, and spaces.

How These Rules Connect to the Evidence

  • Dual payroll / campaign work while on state staff → ch. 556, §572.051, and §39.02 are implicated if state time, staff, accounts, or equipment are used to advance a campaign or if official authority is leveraged for political ends.
  • “Personal” social account used to announce/defend official litigation → First Amendment & §1983 issues if citizens are blocked from an account functioning as an official channel (state action + viewpoint exclusion).
  • Privilege letters withholding SB-11 emails → ch. 552 asks: are withholdings limited to privileged legal advice, or are non-privileged factual/public-messaging emails being withheld?
  • 2020 overlap (OAG + Ken Paxton + Shelley Luther) → ch. 556 & §572.051 questions about separation of roles and resources; Election Code ch. 254 accuracy of payee identity/purpose entries.
  • Name variants across reports (“Tonja,” “Tonya,” “Michelle”) → ch. 254 reporting sufficiency (is the payee accurately identified; is the “purpose” specific enough to inform the public?).
  • Religious-policy messaging tied to public schools (SB-11, chaplains, Ten Commandments) → Establishment Clause risk when state employees or state-amplified accounts promote sectarian practice in school contexts.

Tonya Michelle Smith's Political History Timeline

2011–2013

Rockwall City Council

Served two years on the Rockwall City Council before stepping down to pursue state and national policy work. Declared her goal to return politics to “Judeo-Christian roots.”

2013–2014

Concerned Women for America

Held leadership roles, including Texas State Director. Advocated for embedding biblical values in public policy, building networks that later supported campaign roles.

2017–2019

Angela Paxton for Senate

Campaign manager for Angela Paxton’s successful Senate run, handling grassroots organizing and communications.

2018–2019

Ken Paxton Campaign

Simultaneously managed Ken Paxton’s re-election campaign for Attorney General. Campaign duties overlapped with Angela Paxton’s race.

2020

Triple Roles

Appeared on campaign finance reports for Ken Paxton and Shelley Luther while also working for the Office of the Attorney General. This unusual overlap showed campaign and government paychecks at the same time.

2020–Present

Senior Advisor to Ken Paxton

Returned to the Attorney General’s Office in December 2020 as Senior Advisor. Payroll records show six-figure salary and repeated merit raises, even as campaign-style messaging continued from her public-facing accounts.

The Dual-Payroll Question

Key point: Texans fund the OAG. Donors fund campaigns. If one communicator draws from both, Texans deserve clarity about which hat is being worn — and when.

  • State employment: Records indicate Smith on OAG payroll. (Documentation available.)
  • Campaign compensation: Paxton campaign finance filings list payments to Smith. (Report excerpts available.)
  • Public-facing messaging: A “personal” account that routinely frames, defends, or announces OAG-related activity. (Representative posts collected.)

Public Messaging, Public Access

The account at issue promotes official policy and litigation updates, yet multiple Texans — including parents — report being blocked from viewing that feed. The Supreme Court has described social media as the “modern public square.” Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. 98, 104–05 (2017).

Transparency Loop: How the Lights Go Out

  1. State-style announcements and defenses post from a “personal” account.
  2. Citizens request related OAG emails (SB 11) under the Public Information Act.
  3. OAG asserts privilege, withholding internal communications.

The loop leaves Texans unable to tell whether the messaging is government speech, campaign speech, or both. (See OAG’s privilege claim.)

The Donor Identity Question

Campaign finance records from the Texas Ethics Commission show both “Michelle Smith” and “Tonja Smith” receiving compensation from Ken Paxton’s campaigns — sometimes in the very same reporting periods. Public records confirm these refer to Tonja Michelle Smith, now a senior advisor at the Office of the Attorney General.

Separate donor databases list a “Michelle Smith” contributing through ActBlue to Beto O’Rourke and other Democratic campaigns. With the same name already appearing inconsistently in Texas reports, the question naturally arises:

Is the “Michelle Smith” who donates to ActBlue and Democratic candidates the same Tonja Michelle Smith who is on Paxton’s payroll and Texas state payroll?

The available records do not yet provide a definitive answer. What they do show is a pattern of name confusion in official filings, and a public figure whose political roles and financial records already blur ordinary lines of accountability.

Policy Context: Why This Matters Now

SB 11: School Prayer Votes & Waivers

Boards compelled to take recorded votes on daily prayer/reading; parental “consent” forms include waivers of constitutional claims.

(Full text available.)

SB 10: Ten Commandments Displays

Mandated classroom posters enjoined as unconstitutional; state leaders defended with sectarian justifications.

(Order available.)

SB 763: School Chaplains

Authorizes chaplains from “school safety” funds; professional chaplains warned of proselytizing risks.

(Open letter available.)

Bluebonnet Curriculum

Embeds biblical allegory in K–5 literacy/civics (e.g., MLK compared with Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego).

(Curriculum excerpts available.)

Legal Framework at a Glance

  • Texas Gov’t Code ch. 556 — State agencies & employees may not use state resources for political advertising or to influence elections; no coercing political activity; no using official authority to affect an election.
  • Texas Penal Code §39.02 (Abuse of Official Capacity) — Misusing government property, services, personnel, or anything of value for a non-government purpose can be a crime.
  • Texas Gov’t Code §572.051 (Standards of Conduct) — No using an official position for private advantage; avoid outside work that impairs independence of judgment; don’t misuse government resources.
  • Texas Election Code ch. 254 (Campaign Reports) — Reports must accurately identify payees, amounts, dates, purpose with sufficient specificity, and preserve underlying records.
  • Texas Election Code ch. 253 (Political Contributions) — Restrictions around corporate/union money and the use of funds; candidates can’t accept corporate contributions outside narrow exceptions.
  • Texas Gov’t Code ch. 552 (Public Information Act) — Public has a right to records; limited exceptions (e.g., litigation or attorney-client) can’t be used to hide non-privileged, factual communications.
  • U.S. Const. First Amendment (Speech/Establishment) — Government may not establish religion; officials’ social-media blocking can be unconstitutional when they use an account for official purposes.
  • 42 U.S.C. §1983 — Civil remedy when state actors violate constitutional rights (e.g., viewpoint-based blocking on an official-use account).

Selected Documents & Evidence

OAG Payroll & Paxton Campaign Filings

Side-by-side excerpts showing Smith’s name on state payroll and campaign disbursements.

(State payroll excerpt and campaign report available.)

Paxton Press Release (Lord’s Prayer, KJV)

Official communication circulating a Christian prayer as a model for SB 11 implementation.

(Press release available.)

Representative Social Posts

Promotions of SB 11, defenses of Ten Commandments law, statements on litigation — from the “personal” account.

(Post gallery available.)

OAG Privilege Letter (SB 11 Emails)

Letter asserting privilege over internal communications related to SB 11.

(Letter available.)

Summary

Payroll and finance records show Tonja Michelle Smith associated with both the Texas Attorney General’s Office and Ken Paxton’s campaign. On a “personal” X/Twitter account, she has promoted state litigation and legislation (including school-prayer votes under SB 11), defended the Ten Commandments classroom law, and amplified official statements — while blocking Texas parents and taxpayers from viewing those posts. Meanwhile, OAG asserted privilege over emails about SB 11 when citizens requested them. The public is left to ask: when this account speaks, is it the State, the campaign, or both?

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