Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced earlier this month that he is launching a primary challenge to Sen. John Cornyn for his seat in the U.S. Senate. Now, Texans want to know who will fill Paxton’s place as the highest legal officer of the state.
One name garnering a lot of attention is Texas Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Republican from Galveston who announced his bid for attorney general earlier this week. Middleton is known as one of the more conservative members of the Texas Legislature, said Jasper Scherer, politics reporter for The Texas Tribune.
“He’s also just a formidable candidate by way of his own money,” Scherer said. “He’s an oil and gas businessman and attorney, and he has pledged to put at least $10 million of his own money into the race.”
Scherer said Middleton is currently the top contender for the Texas attorney general seat, but he’s not the only one to throw his name into the mix.
Former U.S. Attorney John Bash also said he would run to replace Paxton. Before serving as a special assistant to President Donald Trump in his first term, Bash worked as a federal prosecutor for the Western District of Texas. He’s also an attorney for Elon Musk, Scherer said.
“[Bash] immediately came out swinging, kind of questioning Middleton’s conservative credentials and his past support for Paxton,” Scherer said. “Already we’ve got some haymakers being thrown there.”
Hear more stories from the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
