The Republicans trying to unseat embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton are unsparing in their criticism of the incumbent from their own party 鈥� and beginning to draw some hard contrasts with one another.
During separate one-on-one interviews for the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival, the three Republican primary challengers took Paxton to task for the legal problems he has accrued in office, with two even saying he should resign. At the same time, each made the case for why they should be the main GOP alternative to the incumbent, raising differences based on experience 鈥� legal, executive and political 鈥� as well as conservative credentials.
As he seeks a third term, Paxton is being challenged by fellow Republicans George P. Bush, the land commissioner; Eva Guzman, a former state Supreme Court justice; and Matt Krause, a state representative from Fort Worth. Bush and Guzman have been running since June, while Krause entered the race last week, saying he did not think Bush or Guzman was capable of taking out the incumbent.
Paxton has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, though his opponents are unfazed, pressing forward with hopes of making next year鈥檚 primary a referendum on the beleaguered incumbent.
Paxton has been indicted on securities fraud charges since his first months in office six years ago. He more recently came under FBI investigation over allegations by some of his former deputies that he abused his office to aid a wealthy donor. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases, while painting his primary foes as ambitious politicians who are doing the bidding of Democrats and making it harder for the GOP to hold the key office next year.
During a radio interview after Krause launched his bid, Paxton said he had talked in advance with the state lawmaker, a onetime ally, and told him, 鈥淚 got shot in the back by my own guy[s]鈥� 鈥� referring to his former staff members 鈥� 鈥渁nd you鈥檙e telling me now that you should leave me for the bad guys to destroy.鈥�
Conceding the call was 鈥渧ery tense,鈥� Krause said during the TribFest interview that a different metaphor came to mind.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 more akin to somebody else shooting themselves in the foot over and over and over and still wanting to lead everybody out onto the battlefield,鈥� Krause said.
Krause鈥檚 interview airs at 10:30 a.m. Friday, while Guzman鈥檚 is at noon Friday and Bush鈥檚 is at noon Saturday.
In their interviews, Bush and Guzman said Paxton should step down, or at least not stand for reelection. Guzman was the most pointed.
鈥淲hen you have an attorney general who is so preoccupied with his own legal drama, troubles, charges, indictments, investigations, Texans aren鈥檛 getting out of the attorney general鈥檚 office what they deserve,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e should resign and focus on his legal defense.鈥�
Bush also answered in the affirmative when asked if Paxton should resign.
鈥淚鈥檝e always thought he disqualified himself from further service, and ultimately ... that鈥檚 his call, but it is something he needs to think about,鈥� Bush said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing wrong with saying, 鈥業鈥檓 not gonna run again and I鈥檝e had a good run,鈥� and keep your bar license and perhaps a little bit of your integrity, but that might be too much to ask.鈥�
Krause declined to call for Paxton鈥檚 resignation, saying the decision is up to Paxton.
Differences among primary challengers
Bush was the first major primary challenger to announce against Paxton, getting in the race in early June. He said he is not worried about the crowd that the primary has attracted, joking that 鈥渢he water鈥檚 warm鈥� and suggesting 鈥渕aybe even a few more鈥� candidates could join the primary, though he did not elaborate.
He said his takeaway from the primary field is that Texans are 鈥渞eady for a change.鈥� Still, he made his case for why he is superior to the other challengers, and he suggested he was particularly unbothered by the latest entrant.
鈥淚 really think that if you look at Matt鈥檚 message, I think that it鈥檒l actually pull a lot from the current incumbent,鈥� Bush said.
Krause is pitching himself as the 鈥渇aithful conservative fighter鈥� in the race, running as a Paxton-like conservative 鈥� but without the legal cloud hanging over him. He has said he decided to run in the primary because he was not seeing Bush or Guzman resonate with rank-and-file GOP voters. He reiterated that in his interview, saying it does not seem there has been 鈥渁nyone who鈥檚 really kind of connected with the grassroots.鈥�
Guzman has already sought to distinguish herself from Bush when it comes to their legal credentials. She has drawn attention to the fact that he chose to classify his law license as inactive in 2010 and did not reinstate it as active until last year.
In her interview, Guzman took broader aim at Bush, not just raising the questions about his legal experience but also criticizing his office鈥檚 oversight of the Alamo and administration of recovery funds after Hurricane Harvey.
鈥淗e is not qualified to serve as Texas鈥� next attorney general,鈥� Guzman said. 鈥淗is record, his lack of legal experience and his flawed judgment make him unqualified for the office. He鈥檚 a nice man; he鈥檚 not qualified for this office.鈥�
Bush defended his legal experience in his interview. He said he made his law license inactive in 2010 because that is when he deployed to Afghanistan. He continued to keep it inactive after he got back, he added, because it was not necessary at the General Land Office, which has its own lawyers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 basically a formality, and once a lawyer, always a lawyer, and this campaign is truly about leading an agency,鈥� Bush said, pivoting to his own contrast with Guzman. 鈥淭he thing about Eva is that she鈥檚 never run anything, in the private sector or in the public sector. ... I have 800 full-time employees. She wants to talk about executive leadership 鈥� I鈥檓 more than happy to have that discussion.鈥�
Grappling with Trump鈥檚 endorsement
Regardless of the individual strengths of the primary challengers, Paxton still has the backing of Trump, who remains highly popular with Republican voters. Paxton mentioned the former president three times in a four-sentence statement responding to Krause鈥檚 candidacy last week.
Trump endorsed Paxton in late July after Bush spent weeks vying for the former president鈥檚 support. Bush has accused Paxton of misleading Trump to secure his endorsement, a point that the land commissioner reiterated in his interview, claiming Paxton 鈥渨asn鈥檛 exactly forthright with his legal challenges to the president or his team.鈥� At the same time, Bush said Jake Ellzey鈥檚 recent election to Congress 鈥� against a Trump-backed opponent 鈥攕hows there is 鈥渟till a very wide pathway for a Republican in a primary as long as you are for many of the policies of [Trump] and you reach out to his supporters.鈥�
Recalling a recent conversation with Trump, Bush seemed to suggest Trump could revisit his endorsement of Paxton.
鈥淸Trump] said if there鈥檚 updates legally on Ken, he鈥檇 be open to future conversations,鈥� Bush said.
Krause acknowledged Trump still holds considerable sway with primary voters. But he argued that any voter concerned with Trump鈥檚 endorsement 鈥渃ould take out the incumbent鈥檚 name, put my name right in there, and you鈥檙e gonna see all these policies that we鈥檝e championed over the years 鈥� it鈥檚 the same ones that were used to get General Paxton the endorsement鈥� of Trump.
鈥淚f that does sway you, I think you鈥檒l find in our campaign the exact same kind of fight, the exact same kind of policy,鈥� Krause said.
At the same time, Krause noted the Trump endorsement produced 鈥渞eally no noticeable bump鈥� for Paxton in a poll that came out over the weekend. The survey from The Dallas Morning News and University of Texas at Tyler found Paxton leading the primary with 43% of the vote, only 1 percent point higher since the last time the pollsters gauged the contest, which was before Trump鈥檚 endorsement.
鈥淪o I think people are looking even maybe past that endorsement to some of the things we鈥檝e been talking about today, some of the policy areas,鈥� Krause said.
James Barrag谩n contributed reporting.