Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won a third term in Tuesday’s midterm elections under the cloud of an FBI investigation and dysfunction in his office that Democrats believe have opened an opportunity to end decades of GOP power in the state. NBC 5’s Scott Gordon reports from Paxton’s watch party in Plano and NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero from Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza’s watch party in Houston.
UPDATED: See the latest midterm 2022 returns for all Texas races here.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has weathered a storm of troubles like few other elected officials in the U.S., is hoping to win his third term Tuesday if he can hold off Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza, a first-time candidate and former ACLU attorney.
Paxton, whose troubles include a seven-year fight for an indictment on felony securities fraud charges, a federal investigation into accusations of corruption and an exodus of staff from his office, has broadly denied wrongdoing and has remained popular with GOP voters.
In America's largest red state, the accusations have not given GOP voters pause about Paxton, who carried Donald Trump's endorsement into again winning his party's nomination in March.
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"He's been one of the greatest attorneys general for the state of Texas and one of the most conservative ones in the entire country," said Abraham George, chairman of the Collin County Republican Party, to the Associated Press in September, adding that Paxton deserves the same presumption of innocence as any other American.
The Republican has elevated his national profile in recent years, energizing the right by rushing into contentious court battles that have affected people far beyond Texas. He has fought access to abortion, Democratic immigration policy and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Garza, meanwhile, told NBC 5 last month that she plans to change how the Texas Attorney General’s Office does business.
"All the bread and butter issue. Making sure we are collecting child support, that we are actually protecting consumers, and that we restore civil rights. I want to have a fully funded civil rights division to protect the safety, the dignity, and the privacy of every Texan. That includes voting rights, that includes reproductive rights,” said Garza.
Paxton’s campaign told NBC 5 last month that he was not available to speak with us but sent a statement saying the choice Texans are facing in this race could not be more clear.
"My opponent, Rochelle Garza, is the most radical candidate for statewide office in Texas history, and her open borders agenda at a time when our border and our state have been completely overrun with rampant illegal immigration isn't just wrong — it's dangerous," Paxton said in a written statement. "I am confident that the people of the Lone Star State will recognize the many critical victories we've won to protect our fundamental liberties and to hold Joe Biden and his administration accountable for their lawless agenda that has caused Texans so much pain.”
TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S RACE
Garza told NBC 5 she is not for open borders and pointed out she began her career as an immigration attorney and a fifth-generation Texan from the border region.
“As attorney general, I will hold the federal government accountable if they fail to enact an orderly immigration process because that is what they need to do. The burden shouldn’t be on our border communities. I know that well as somebody who is from Brownsville, Texas, that has lived through that,” Garza added.
Early polls showed Garza within two points, but more recent polls show Paxton with a more comfortable lead.
No Democrat has won a statewide office in Texas since 1994.
Libertarian Mark Ash is also on the ballot in the race.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Results from the attorney general's race will be embedded in this story after the polls close Tuesday night.
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