Most read of 2012:

Find out which PolitiFact Texas factchecks were most read, and see which member of the U.S. House of Representatives appears most often in our roundup of the most popular posts.

The Texan who lasted longest running for president figured in three of the most read PolitiFact Texas fact-checks of 2012.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Lake Jackson accounted for the sixth-, seventh- and 10th-most popular articles at PolitiFact- Texas.com, the AmericanStatesman’s political factchecking project, which is completing its third year.

Others with claims drawing the highest interest included a former Texas railroad commissioner, a country singer, two U.S. Senate candidates, an MSNBC host and the mayor of San Antonio.

But Paul, who sought the presidency while not pursuing another House term, proved dominant.

At a January debate, the GOP presidential hopefuls were asked what the highest federal income tax rate should be. Paul, one-upping his opponents, set in motion our No. 6 favorite fact-check, replying: “We should have the lowest tax that we’ve ever had, and up until 1913, it was zero percent.”

Zero percent from the 1780s to 1913? Not quite, we found.

Paul’s reference to 1913 reflected the 20th-century constitutional change enabling the current income tax. But his claim disregarded two pre-1913 efforts to impose an income tax — one of which held in place for a decade. We rated his claim Half True.

A flawed poll claim touched off the article that landed No. 7. After finishing third in the Iowa caucuses, Paul told supporters that “the majority of the American people believe we should have a gold standard and not a paper standard” for U.S. currency.