In the final months of the race for Texas attorney general, Democratic candidate Rochelle Garza is making inroads against Republican incumbent Ken Paxton.
“He’s been under criminal indictment for more than seven years and has been engaging in culture wars instead of addressing the things that Texans really care about and standing up for Texas families. That is what I am here to do. That's what I want to do with the Office of Attorney General is to fight for Texas families,” said Garza.
Garza, a civil rights attorney, says she believes the focus of the office she seeks should include protecting civil rights and the rights of consumers.
A new poll by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows Paxton with 34% of the vote and Garza with 32%. Libertarian Mark Ash has 8% and 18% of voters are undecided.
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Paxton has the fundraising edge. Though Garza outsides him in the last fundraising period, he has about $3,500,000. Garza has about $445,000.
“This is essentially the queen on the chess board. This would be a game changer for Texans and that is what I’m focused on, and that is what we are telling donors and making sure that they understand that,” added Garza.
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NBC 5 asked for and did not receive a comment from Paxton or his campaign. Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi did send a statement saying, "Rochelle who? Ken Paxton is one of the most successful attorney generals in the country. We look forward to re-electing Gen. Paxton in November and continuing Republicans' 28-year streak of winning every statewide office in Texas."
Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges about seven years ago and he maintains he did nothing wrong. SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson thinks that may play in a role in the race, but adds it’s still an uphill climb for democrats.
“We know that Ken Paxton has a lot of baggage, and in fact, his primary opponents said as much. They cautioned that if republicans nominated Paxton, it would make this a competitive race when it would otherwise likely not be. And I think that is in fact what's playing out with him only up two or three points,” said Wilson.
Wilson says a key to this poll is the high number of undecided voters.
