Dallas attorney Tony Box is running to be the Democratic nominee for Texas attorney general, he announced this week, becoming the third member of his party vying to replace outgoing incumbent .
Box, a first-time candidate, is an Army veteran, former FBI agent and former federal prosecutor who now works in private practice in Dallas. He will face former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski and state Sen. of Dallas in the March 3 primary.
Paxton, who has led the office for a decade, is giving up his post to challenge U.S. Sen. .
In a press release, Box said he was seeking to 鈥渂ring decades of public service and law enforcement experience to an office plagued by corruption and political theater.鈥�
"The AG should be protecting consumers, cracking down on fraud and partnering with law enforcement, but Ken Paxton has turned this office into a laughingstock,鈥� Box said in a statement. 鈥淚've spent my entire career fighting corruption, prosecuting criminals and standing up to powerful people who abuse their positions. Texans deserve better.鈥�
Box鈥檚 journey to running for attorney general began when he was 16 years old and got shot in the stomach while protecting a coworker from a robbery. The episode prompted him to 鈥渄edicate his life to the service of others,鈥� he said in a press release.
After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Box entered the Army. He was deployed to Iraq as a judge advocate general, the military鈥檚 version of a lawyer, and served as an investigator for the Congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped uncover $30 billion of waste and fraud, according to his campaign press release.
Box spent a decade as an FBI special agent, serving on the SWAT team and deploying as part of the agency鈥檚 September 11th response, he said. In the meantime, he went to law school at night.
In 2018, Box joined the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the Eastern District of Missouri handling tax investigations and prosecutions, according to his LinkedIn. In 2022, he joined the law firm in Dallas, where he represents businesses and 鈥渉igh net-worth individuals鈥� in civil and criminal tax cases, white-collar defense and regulatory investigations.
鈥淭he Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Texas and the people of this state deserve a leader who is looking out for them, not corrupt politicians and their cronies,鈥� Box said in a statement.
Across the aisle, four Republicans are competing to succeed Paxton as the GOP nominee: state Sens. of Houston and of Galveston, former Paxton deputy Aaron Reitz and U.S. Rep. of Austin.
This first appeared on .
