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The Dallas Democrat wants to replace Ken Paxton, who is leaving the post to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
By
Gromer Jeffers Jr.
Political Writer
In what he called an effort to restore integrity to the office, state Sen. Nathan Johnson on Tuesday launched a campaign to replace Ken Paxton as Texas attorney general.
“It is significant that Ken Paxton has abused the office, that he’s corrupted the office, that he’s debased the office,” Johnson said in an interview with
The Dallas Morning News.
“And not only am I sick of that, I think the people of Texas are too.
Paxton is not seeking reelection as attorney general and is instead
challenging John Cornyn
for the GOP Senate nomination.
Johnson, a Dallas Democrat, sees an opportunity.
“How does a Democrat win?” Johnson added. “ Who else can clean up the mess that’s left behind in that office? The public is going to respond to that.”
Through a campaign spokesman Paxton declined to comment on Johnson criticizing his record.
Johnson, 57, has served in the Senate since 2019. Reelected in 2024, his Senate term doesn’t expire until 2028, so he doesn’t have to give up his seat to run for attorney general.
He’ll have an uphill fight. A Democrat hasn’t won a Texas statewide office since 1994. Johnson will not only have stiff competition against a Republican in the general election, but he’s also expected to have a competitive Democratic primary in March.
Johnson said he’ll campaign on his Senate record and willingness to be an independent voice. Democrats hope they will have a favorable political climate in 2026, since midterm elections are historically troublesome for the party that holds the White House.
He added his core objective is “restoring the office to the function that it’s supposed to have, which is representing the people of Texas and the state of Texas.”
“For a long time, the attorney general’s office has been used essentially as a party apparatus,” Johnson said. “It’s been used for personal gain, political ambitions, and as a partisan tool. Irrespective of what team you’re rooting for, you do not want an attorney general who treats the office as a political apparatus or who takes their instructions from Washington, D.C., or a political party or mega donors. You want someone who is demonstrably independent-minded.”
Tough road ahead
Johnson can expect competition in the primary and general election.
In the Democratic primary, former Galveston mayor and 2022 attorney general candidate Joe Jaworski is expected to compete again for his party’s nomination.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, is considering running for the Senate seat held by Cornyn, but in the past he’s also considered running for attorney general.
With an open seat, the field could attract a
large number of contenders.
“While it’s comforting to run unopposed, I think a competitive primary process is healthy for political parties,” Johnson said. “I want to run in a primary election the same way I’m going to run in a general election, same issues, same principles. I think that alone could separate me from potential primary challengers.”
On the
Republican side,
state Sens. Mayes Middleton of Galveston and Joan Huffman of Houston are running for attorney general, along with Aaron Reitz, a former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former deputy attorney general under Paxton.
“On the Republican side, you’re going to see people who routinely bend to the will of the Republican machine,” Johnson said.
“I’ve already won a race against a wealthy, highly favored incumbent Republican and won by a wide margin, and that was a race that people thought was not winnable,” Johnson added. “People want to see somebody who authentically wants to represent their interests.”
People not politics
A Dallas lawyer, Johnson said he’s been an effective lawmaker since joining the Senate. In 2018 he unseated Republican Don Huffines to win the seat. He campaigned on being an independent voice. Texas Democrats made gains in the 2018 cycle. Not only did Johnson win his Senate seat, but the party flipped 12 House districts and two congressional seats.
While in the Senate, health care has been one of his biggest issues. He has called on Gov. Greg Abbott to
accept Medicaid expansion
under the terms of the Affordable Care Act. Though that hasn’t happened, Johnson has fought to get affordable health care for more Texans.
An estimated 20% of adult Texans lack health insurance — the highest rate in the nation. Texas also has one of the country’s most restrictive Medicaid programs.
“People desperately want to feel like their government cares about them. They want to believe that somebody is looking out for their interests,” Johnson said. “One of the things I’d like to achieve as the attorney general of the state is restore faith in the office.”
Johnson said the attorney general should make sure “people are protected from violent crime, from being ripped off” and from “political corruption.”
“The office hasn’t really been used for any of those three,” Johnson said. “It’s been used for a lot of talk and theater.”
Paxton has made
fighting voter fraud a crusade
, though critics say the issue is largely manufactured for political gain.
“I think it’s of paramount importance that the attorney general uphold election integrity, but that doesn’t mean making a shell of it in manufacturing problems and manufacturing incidents and manufacturing threats in order to get headlines,” Johnson said. “If you vote fraudulently, I’m coming after you. If you facilitate fraudulent voting, I’m coming after you. If you don’t count valid ballots or count ballots that are invalid, I’m coming after you … but I’m not going to scare the public into thinking there’s some massive voting fraud going on when there isn’t.”
Like Abbott before him as attorney general, Paxton has aggressively pushed back against Democrats in the White House. And it was Paxton who in 2020
unsuccessfully asked the U.S. Supreme Court
to overturn presidential election results in several battleground states. That year Joe Biden beat Donald Trump for the presidency.
“The state of Texas had a completely unproductively destructively adversarial relationship with the Biden administration, and they have a completely complicit relationship with the Trump administration,” Johnson said. “The attorney general’s office should be there to sue the federal government when the federal government actions are unconstitutional and infringe upon Texas’ right and ability to provide for its citizens, they should collaborate with the federal government where doing so furthers the interests of the people of this state and of this nation.”
Johnson said that the attorney general’s post is one of the most critical in the country, particularly since executive branches, particularly the president, is trying to expand power.
“It’s the place that’s at the center of the most consequential change that we’re undergoing right now in terms of where political power is flowing and how it’s used,” Johnson said. “It is essential that we have somebody in there who is sincere about the job and sincere about what it could do for people, and we don’t have that.”
By
Gromer Jeffers Jr.
The Howard University graduate and Chicago native has covered four presidential campaigns and written extensively about local, state and national politics. Before The News, he was a reporter at The Kansas City Star and The Chicago Defender. You can catch Gromer every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on NBC 5’s Lone Star Politics.
