Nathan Johnson, a Democratic state Senator in Dallas, said he decided to run for attorney general after participating in Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial.
“ I was a juror, and I listened to a couple weeks of testimony, and it really shocked me and appalled me how the political process corrupted what should have been the just result for the people of Texas, and to help people have faith in government in Texas, which would’ve been a conviction,” Johnson told Courier Texas in an interview.
Paxton, who is now the Republican nominee for US Senate, was elected to the attorney general’s office in 2015, and has utilized his tenure to sue the Biden administration over 100 times, sue out of state doctors over abortion medication, and investigate higher education institutions over diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
In 2015, just months after taking office, he was indicted on three felony security fraud charges. Eight of his most senior aides reported him to the FBI in 2020, accusing him of bribery and abuse of office for allegedly misusing his authority to benefit his friend and political donor, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul—who also employed a woman with whom Paxton acknowledged having an extramarital affair.
Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives in 2023 over those allegations. Following his impeachment, he was temporarily suspended from office, but in September 2023, the Texas Senate—led by Republican Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and voting strictly along party lines—acquitted Paxton on all charges, allowing him to return to his duties as attorney general.
The position serves as the state’s chief legal officer, and primarily handles civil matters rather than criminal prosecutions. They defend state laws, the Texas Constitution, state agencies, and officials in court. They also investigate businesses engaged in deceptive trade practice and fraud, and administer child support services.
Johnson said the people who drafted the Texas Constitution didn’t trust power in the hands of anybody, so they created an independently elected executive office—not an appointee of the governor and not confirmed by the legislature—but an independent executive office that has the power and the constitutional authority to act as a check and a balance against the abuse of power.
“And what we’ve seen Paxton do, is precisely the opposite,” Johnson said. “He has used the office as a conduit for corruption, as a shield against investigation and prosecution of corruption, and as a facilitator of the further concentration of power in very few hands.”
Johnson, who has served as a state senator since 2019 and has passed 135 bills in the Texas Legislature, said his experience in the Senate has primed him for this role.
“ The attorney general is an advisor to the legislature and to the governor, and is also a check and balance,” he said. “Lawmakers need to know that their attorney general is not going to help them pass unconstitutional stuff or give them a pass when they’re violating people’s individual rights. As attorney general, my experience in the legislature will allow me to have that kind of productive relationship with the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, to make sure that I’m able to do my job of protecting people in their daily life.”
In the November 3 general election, Johnson will face Galveston-based state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a self-described MAGA Republican who gave himself a nickname—MAGA Mayes—highlighting his devotion to President Trump and his agenda. Johnson said if elected, Middleton won’t use the office for its intended purpose.
“ He’s creating an environment where his very narrow worldview can become the view of the Republican Party,” Johnson said. “When we’re talking about the highest legal office in the state of Texas, we see things very differently. I don’t think that the attorney general’s office should be a tool for any president’s agenda. MAGA Mayes has said that he should use ‘every tool and resource of the office of attorney general to make sure that Donald Trump’s agenda gets passed.’ You know what? That is not the attorney general’s job.”
Middleton, who has inherited an oil and gas fortune, spent over $20 million of his own money on his attorney general campaign so far—something Johnson said is “a very unhealthy thing for Texas politics.”
Johnson said he believes the biggest difference between he and Mayes—besides their checkbook—is who each will serve as attorney general.
“ This office is supposed to be extremely powerful on behalf of the interest of the people of Texas, not the interest of a presidential administration, Democrat or Republican,” Johnson told Courier Texas. “He wants to use the office as a tool of servitude of fawning to a president who has dictatorial ambitions and has gotten dangerously close to them. I want to use it as a tool to represent the interests of the state of Texas against dictatorial ambitions.”
As attorney general, Johnson’s first steps would be getting back to the basics and rebuilding the office, examining all pending legislation that Paxton has filed, and realigning the office’s priorities, Johnson said.
In order to ”right the ship and get Texas back on the right course,” he said he will also work to administer child support services, provide guidance to municipalities for bond elections, reestablish marketplace and consumer protections, and ultimately get rid of the “corrupt ethos” that’s been in the office for over a decade.
“ Mayes Middleton voted to acquit Ken Paxton in the face of evidence of just brazen corruption and brazen abuse of office,” Johnson said. “If corruption’s cool with you, Mayes is your guy. If you want people to follow rules, the government to stay in its lane, and for businesses to follow the law, then I’m your guy.”
