Incumbent Ken Paxton defeated George P. Bush, the state鈥檚 current land commissioner, in Tuesday鈥檚 runoff Republican primary election for Texas Attorney General, clearing the way for the incumbent to seek his third term in that office.
The runoff was one of a handful of statewide contests that extended into May after the March primary election. Also on the ballot were both party鈥檚 nominations for land commissioner and a Republican seat on the three-member Texas Railroad Commission.
Paxton鈥檚 victory came despite his being under indictment for securities fraud since 2015 in a case that has not yet gone to trial. He declined to debate Bush and touted the endorsement of former president Donald Trump throughout his campaign.
Paxton will face Rochelle Garza in November after the Brownsville native defeated Joe Jaworski, a former mayor of Galveston.
Garza is a Brownsville native and attorney who made headlines after she successfully sued the Trump administration while representing an immigrant teenager who sought access to an abortion.
The elections came the same day a gunman killed nearly two dozen people, mostly children, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. The tragedy cast a pall over the day鈥檚 election and Paxton sounded a somber tone during his victory speech, as Houston Public Media .
"We're going down there [to Uvalde] tomorrow," Paxton said at his watch party. "We're going to do our job tomorrow. We're going to try to help these people."
Bush also referenced the shooting a statement conceding his loss.
Things didn鈥檛 go as we planned. But after the tragic events of earlier today, it鈥檚 important to keep life鈥檚 temporary disappointments in perspective,鈥� he .
Texas Land Commissioner
State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, easily defeated opponent Tim Westley to be the Republican nominee for land commissioner for the open seat vacated by Bush. Buckingham was also endorsed by former president Trump. If successful in November, she will become the first woman in that office.
鈥淚 am honored by the overwhelming support across the state to have won the Republican nomination to be your next Texas Land Commissioner! Onward to November,鈥� she after the race was called.
Buckingham will face Jay Kleberg, a conservationist and scion of the King Ranch. Kleberg bested Martinez by about 28,000 votes.
The Texas Land Commissioner manages 13 million acres of state-owned land, as well as the distribution of disaster aid and help for the state鈥檚 veterans.
Texas Railroad Commission
Incumbent Wayne Christian defeated challenger Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney who accused the current commission of being a 鈥渃aptive agency of the industry鈥�. Christian, a former longtime member of the Texas House campaigned largely on his pushback of progressive environmental policies like the Green New Deal.
In a Stogner hinted she wasn鈥檛 necessarily bowing out of politics for good.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a marathon not a sprint. Thank you to the tribe. See y鈥檃ll at convention. Let鈥檚 get the name changed,鈥� she said, referring to the confusion surrounding the name of the agency, which regulates the oil and gas industry and has nothing to do with railroads or trains.
Christian said it was the 鈥渉onor of his life鈥� to serve on the commission.
鈥淚'm thankful to for re-nominating me for this vital office. I look forward to continue fighting for cheap, plentiful, reliable energy, as we stand up to the Biden鈥檚 radical liberal agenda,鈥� he tweeted.
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