Democrat Nathan Johnson claimed victory in the race for Texas attorney general. Johnson, a Dallas state senator and corporate litigator, defeated Mayes Middleton, an oil and gas heir who ran on his close relationship with President Donald Trump. If confirmed, Johnson would be the first Democrat elected attorney general since 1994.
Johnson said his office will focus on consumer protection, anti-corruption and child support enforcement. He also said his office will sue the Trump administration when he believes the federal government is overstepping in Texas. Middleton had said he would use every resource to back the president, including on border security and deportations. Middleton spent close to $20 million of his own money in a primary against U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, but he pulled back during the general election.
Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political scientist who studies attorneys general, said the change in control of the office would be significant for the conservative legal movement, at least temporarily. "The biggest effect would not even be that there is a Democrat in the office, but that it's not a Republican," Nolette said. In 2018, Johnson unseated a conservative state senator in his Dallas-area district.