TEXAS — The countdown is on until the March primaries. Here’s a look at the Texans who want to be the top lawyer of the state.
Seven candidates are running to be the next Texas attorney general this year—four on the Republican side and three on the Democratic side.
It’s a busy week for the four GOP candidates. The Rockwall County Republican Party invited all four candidates for a forum this week. But that’s just one of the many stops in North Texas that they plan to make as the race for Texas attorney general heats up.
Out of the four Republican candidates running to be the state’s top litigator, all but one is an elected official, and he is also the youngest of the four candidates.
“That’s exactly right, but that’s largely because I have spent my entire professional career litigating, investigating, suing, defending and appealing throughout the justice system in both state and federal courts,” said Aaron Reitz.
After President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection, Reitz was appointed to lead the Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy under Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Before making it to D.C., the U.S. Marine Corps veteran served as deputy attorney general for legal strategy under current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“We need to have that continuity. Because if the keys to this office go over to somebody who is not ready or who needs on-the-job training or training wheels, which by the way, all of my opponents will need those things,” said Reitz.
Reitz later received an endorsement from his former boss.
The 38-year-old also served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. But the endorsement from that former boss went to his opponent, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, who was the last candidate to enter the race.
“The reason that I got in later than my opponents is that I have a job to do. I’m a member of Congress. We’re engaged in significant efforts here in Washington and I had to get the big beautiful bill delivered and we got that done and then unfortunately the floods in Kerrville happened and I needed to take care of the people in Kerrville and I needed to stand alongside them and I did that for about a month and a half,” said Roy.
Roy served as the first assistant attorney general of Texas under Paxton. He then headed to D.C., where he served in the U.S. House for nearly a decade.
While there, he has been vocal when his party moves in a direction he doesn’t agree with.
“Every once in a while, I might disagree on a vote or two, and I speak my mind because I’m supposed to. And I don’t shy away from that. When I think it’s the right thing to do for the people of Texas and who I represent, I’m gonna say it and do it because my duty is to the Constitution and the people I represent,” said Roy.
State Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, is another GOP candidate running for Texas AG.
He’s the president and CEO of Middleton Oil Company, an independent oil and gas company. He served in the Texas House from 2019 to 2022 and has served in the Texas Senate since 2023.
Spectrum News reached out multiple times for an interview but has not heard back.
State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, is the only woman in the race on either side of the aisle. She has served in the Texas Senate since 2008.
Like Roy and Rietz, Huffman comes from a legal background. She worked as a prosecutor and was twice elected as a judge in Harris County.
Despite multiple requests, she was unavailable for an interview ahead of Friday’s forum.
Some of the candidates will be at the Rockwall County Republican Party’s forum on Friday night. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Rockwall County Courthouse inside Liberty Hall.