![\"Mayes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778682972_716_.webp\")
Mayes Middleton talks to the audience during the attorney general debate Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Plano. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tMayes Middleton talks to the audience during the attorney general debate Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Plano. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA)<\/p>\n
Two Democrats and two Republicans are trying to prove to their party\u2019s voters they\u2019re the best candidate to become the next Texas attorney general. For Republicans, it\u2019s about who\u2019s the most MAGA<\/a>. And for Democrats, it\u2019s who\u2019s the best person to sway voters in a new direction.<\/p>\n Ken Paxton is leaving the AG role behind to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary runoff<\/a>. He leaves behind an office that is known for being a conservative stronghold that fights for President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n The central question in the Republican primary for AG is who\u2019s the most loyal to Trump. Both state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy are pointing to their conservative records as proof they\u2019re the best candidate to lead the charge on the conservative battleground.<\/p>\n \u201cThe AG is not just some lawyer,\u201d Middleton told KERA in an interview ahead of the primary election. \u201cThey\u2019re not just an appellate attorney. You\u2019re setting the conservative agenda for this entire state.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy told CBS News people on the left fear having him as AG. KERA reached out to Roy\u2019s campaign but was unable to set up an interview for this story.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of folks who would like to see me not be attorney general because they\u2019re afraid of what I would do to advance a conservative agenda for the people of Texas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Democrats, meanwhile, are laying the groundwork to convince voters it\u2019s time for a change after decades of Republican leadership. State Sen. Nathan Johnson and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski both say Paxton\u2019s pursuit of a political agenda while in office has been a disservice to Texans.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have partisan elections and we are elected in partisan contests,\u201d Jaworski said. \u201cBut the moment the election contest is over, you really do have to, as attorney general, pursue an agenda that serves all 32 million. And that is what Paxton has punted on. And so it has cost Texans a genuine office of Government.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, neither Jaworski nor Johnson would completely step away from the national stage if elected. Both said they\u2019d join Democratic attorneys general across the nation in challenging Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t call that partisan,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI call that responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n The parties have to choose their nominee before their candidate can make their case to voters about the best path forward for the AG\u2019s office after Paxton\u2019s exit. And the candidates competing in the runoffs for the role will have to build a formidable presence at the state level to gain the opportunity to make that case for their party.<\/p>\n Where everybody knows your name<\/p>\n None of the four candidates in the AG runoffs have successfully run for statewide office. Jaworski was the Democratic nominee for AG in 2024, losing to Paxton.<\/p>\n Running a statewide campaign in Texas is challenging, said Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n \u201cMost candidates, if they have not run statewide, find themselves bewildered by the amount of ground they have to cover,\u201d Blank said.<\/p>\n Familiarity with voters is key in elections. People are more likely to vote for someone whose name they recognize, Blank said. But connecting with voters is a challenge even at the local level. Johnson said voters don\u2019t want to cast a random vote.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had to work to build it even within my own district as a state senator that I\u2019ve represented for eight years,\u201d he said. \u201cI can go out to eat anywhere and not be recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy initially had the edge in the Republican primary race for AG as a member of Congress whose name was frequently in national headlines. A University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs poll had him leading the pack of the four GOP primary candidates, with 33% of likely voters favoring Roy.<\/p>\n Roy did earn about 32% of the votes in the primary \u2014 but about 39% of voters checked Middleton\u2019s name on their ballots.<\/p>\n Middleton\u2019s campaign peppered the airwaves ahead of the primary with ads dubbing him \u201cMAGA Mayes.\u201d Ads, SMU political science professor Cal Jillson said, can boost candidates\u2019 name recognition.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a low name recognition race, the person that can establish their name in the voter\u2019s minds with a sentence behind it that says \u2018MAGA Mayes Middleton is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump,\u2019 that is enough to power you to first place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Middleton has frequently pointed to Roy\u2019s past criticisms of the president. Roy previously said in a press release<\/a> that Trump\u2019s conduct during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during President Joe Biden\u2019s inauguration was \u201cclearly impeachable\u201d but called the Democrats\u2019 articles of impeachment flawed.<\/p>\n \u201cOur voters are just not going to forgive someone that has spent 10 years fighting against the president like Chip Roy has,\u201d Middleton said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March.<\/p>\n Roy told KERA via email after Middleton\u2019s remarks his actions in Congress show he\u2019s committed to advancing Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n Primary election turnout is low \u2014 and primary runoff turnout is even lower. Voters who hit the polls during runoffs tend to be more ideologically extreme, said University of Texas at Dallas political science professor Thomas Gray.<\/p>\n That, Gray said, likely gives Middleton the edge in the runoff.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you do get this selection down towards the most passionate, animated voters, that\u2019s probably going to benefit him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Cost of campaigning<\/p>\n Middleton, who runs his family\u2019s oil and gas company, has spent $15 million on his campaign. He used his personal wealth to bolster his campaign funds, something Blank said is another boon for Middleton.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a candidate has unlimited resources or near unlimited resources to be able to introduce themselves to voters, that\u2019s a huge advantage, especially if they\u2019re in a primary without any candidates who\u2019ve ever run statewide before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Roy\u2019s campaign spending has also reached the millions, whereas the Democrats are in the six-figure range.<\/p>\n Campaigning in Texas\u2019 large media market is expensive. Democrats often struggle to match Republicans\u2019 funding, Jillson said.<\/p>\n \u201cA Democrat that far down the ballot is usually going around the state with a tin cup trying to raise lunch money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Johnson said he doesn\u2019t need to match Republicans\u2019 spending to win the AG runoff race or the general election.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t need as much money,\u201d he said. \u201cI need enough money. I need to hit a threshold where I can communicate with everybody in Texas who I am. After that, they\u2019re just buying the same votes or turning off the same people over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaworski pointed to the controversial issues Middleton has focused on in his ads and campaign. Middleton, a conservative Christian, has campaigned on his legislative record, which includes Senate Bill 8<\/a>. The law requires that people in public schools, universities, government buildings, prisons and jails to use restrooms and locker rooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificate.<\/p>\n Voters, Jaworski said, are tired of what he describes as extremism.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for us to dedicate our dollars in advertising to do the modern equivalent of ending the Red Scare,\u201d he said, referring to a controversial anti-Communist movement spearheaded by Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the 1950s.<\/p>\n Political launchpad<\/p>\n Democrats\u2019 best chance at winning the AG\u2019s race, Blank said, is down-ballot momentum from the top of the ticket, the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races.<\/p>\n Leaning toward partisan issues could also benefit candidates across the aisle. It\u2019s not just Paxton who has leaned into the political influence of the role \u2014 Gray said voters see the AG as a partisan actor, too.<\/p>\n \u201cMany voters still approach it as a political partisan position that\u2019s meant to deliver policy gains for their party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As early voting approaches next week, whoever voters choose as their nominee will have to convince Texans they\u2019re the best candidate to take over after a decade of Paxton pursuing a conservative agenda as AG. And that candidate will have the opportunity to pursue their own agenda, or step away from the national stage and back toward state affairs.<\/p>\n Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n