With Ken Paxton leaving the attorney general's office to run for the U.S. Senate, Texas voters will pick his successor on the Nov. 3 ballot, and early voting in Grayson County opens Oct. 19.
The field has three names: Mayes Middleton, a Republican state senator from Galveston; Nathan Johnson, a Democratic state senator from Dallas; and Libertarian Tom Oxford, according to a candidate guide The Texas Tribune published Monday. Republicans have held the office for decades, and the Tribune reported that several polls put the gap between Johnson and Middleton at five points or less.
The office
The agency employs more than 4,000 people, about 750 of them lawyers. It collects child support, pursues fraud in government programs, investigates deceptive businesses and charities, defends state agencies and laws in court and issues opinions interpreting state law.
Mayes Middleton, Republican
Middleton has represented Galveston and surrounding areas in the Texas Senate since 2023 and leads his family's business, Middleton Oil Company. He calls himself a "steadfast ally" of President Donald Trump.
He says he would enforce the president's border and deportation agenda, uphold anti-abortion laws, block "foreign adversaries" from buying Texas property and seek power for the office to prosecute violations of state law, including election crimes that Texas courts have said belong to local prosecutors. The Tribune reported he has spent over $17 million of personal funds on the campaign since launching it in 2025.
Nathan Johnson, Democrat
Johnson, in the Texas Senate since 2019 for a district covering part of Dallas County, and is a litigator and mediator at a Dallas law firm. He points to bipartisan work in the Republican-led Senate and says he passed 134 bills.
