Ken Paxton shaped the Attorney General's Office into a conservative political stronghold. Many Republicans vying to fill his shoes say they'll continue that legacy — but Democrats say it's time to take the politics out.
Paxton is challenging U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary election, leaving the Attorney General position up for grabs. He leaves behind a changed Attorney General's Office — what was once a mostly non-political entity that's now known as a platform for Paxton's conservative political values. And the crowded field for the role differs widely on whether to maintain standard of frequent litigation and investigations, or if it's time to return to the office's previous role.
"Turn it up to 11"
During his tenure as Attorney General, Paxton sued the Biden administration 106 times and filed a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in four states. The Supreme Court declined to rule on the case and said Texas lacked standing to file the suit. He also launched numerous investigations, including probes of the Muslim-oriented housing development formerly known as EPIC City.
Aaron Reitz, Paxton's chosen successor and former deputy, said he plans to build on Paxton's legacy of aggressive action.
"It might be hard to imagine a world in which that intensity gets turned up even higher, but I have all the confidence in the world we're going to turn it up to 11," he said.
Reitz, who served in the Marines, is one of four Republican primary candidates in the Attorney General's race. He served as deputy attorney general for legal strategy from 2020 to May 2023, when he left the office to serve as Sen. Ted Cruz's chief of staff. Reitz was later appointed to lead the Department of Justice's office of legal policy in December 2024 and resigned in June 2025 to return to Texas.
The Republican primary field for Attorney General is crowded — Texas State Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), U.S. Representative Chip Roy, Texas State Senator Joan Huffman (R-Houston) and Reitz are battling for the chance to serve as the state's top prosecutor. All four touted their conservative record at a recent Collin County Young Republicans primary debate in Plano.
Middleton, who served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives before he was elected to the State Senate, pointed to conservative legislation he authored at the primary debate, including Senate Bill 8, which require 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.
Protesters at the Capitol called Middleton "the bathroom bigot," he said. His record defending conservative legislation is something Middleton said he would build on if elected Attorney General.
"The AG is not just some lawyer, they're not just an appellate attorney," he said. "You're setting the conservative agenda for this entire state."
Middleton and Roy are leading in a recent poll according to reporting from The Texas Tribune, with Roy earning 33% favorability and Middleton earning 23%. Roy was unable to attend the Collin County Young Republicans debate but sent a video message outlining his main priorities, including a hard stance on the border.
"As Attorney General, I will always ensure that Texas borders are defended and our communities are kept safe, whether certain corrupted local officials or Democrats in the courts or in Washington want it," he said.
Paxton recently sued Bexar County and several county officials in an attempt to block the county from spending local tax dollars on legal representation for immigrants facing federal deportation proceedings.
A return to normal?
Huffman, while conservative, has said she'd take a different approach to running the Attorney General's Office.
"I'm not going to be an AG who goes from one press conference to the next, from one press release to the next, from one lawsuit to get political attention to the next," she said. "That's not my style."
Instead, Huffman said she'd focus on enhancing public safety by building stronger relationships with law enforcement and District Attorneys across the state. The state senator previously served as a prosecutor and criminal district court judge in Harris County.
The three Democrats running for Attorney General also say they'd return to the standard from before Paxton took over 12 years ago. Texas State Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) said Paxton's ideological slant has prevented the employees of the Attorney General from doing their jobs.
"It's become such an ideological play pen for Ken Paxton that they are not able to do the work they're supposed to doing," he said.
All of the priorities of the office would change if Johnson becomes Attorney General, he said. The focus would shift from Republican talking points to the basic functions of the Attorney General's Office, Johnson said, such as consumer protection and child support.
Tony Box, a Dallas-based attorney who is running as a Democrat for Attorney General, also said he wants to bring the office back to what he says is the role's original intent, a non-partisan representative intent on serving Texans.
"I have no desire to climb the political ladder," he said. "I want become the Attorney General of the state of Texas, change the culture into one that's non-political, increase the morale, get the office to working for the people, leave it better than I found it, and then leave it for the next Attorney General."
Is Texas feeling blue?
While the Democratic candidates for Attorney General say they want to serve all Texans, the state has yet to elect a Democrat to statewide office since the 1990s.
But Democrats recently flipped Texas Senate District 9 during a special election in Northwest Tarrant County, what had previously been a GOP stronghold since the early 1990s. The Democrat, Taylor Rehmet, won by 13 points despite the Republican candidate, Leigh Wambsganss outspending Rehmet by $2 million.
The unexpected upset has given Texas Democrats hope for the upcoming midterm election in November. Many say the upcoming midterm elections in November is the chance for Democrats to make headway similar to gains Democrats made in the state in 2018, the midterm election year during President Donald Trump's first term. Democrats picked up several Congressional seats that year, and Beto O'Rourke made history when he came close to unseating Sen. Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race.
And Democratic candidates should fare even better in Trump's second midterm year, said Joe Jaworski, the former Galveston mayor and attorney who's running in the Democratic Attorney General race.
"Independents are going to swing Democratic," Jaworski said. "Democratic voters are going to get off the couch that they got on in 2024 because they're angry and they want to be heard. And I think a lot of classic Republican voters are repulsed by what they're seeing from their named party."
Before Democrats and Republicans face off in the general election in November, voters in each party will have to select their candidates, a consequential decision. And whoever becomes the next Attorney General will have the opportunity to shape the office into a new era.
Early voting is scheduled to run from February 17 to February 27. Election Day is March 3.
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