AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) – Attorney General Ken Paxton will have to win a runoff election to stay in office as Texas Attorney General after failing to gain a majority of votes against three other candidates to replace him.
Paxton, who has been knee-deep in legal trouble with a securities fraud indictment and allegations of bribery from former staff members, will face Land Commissioner George P. Bush in May.
Bush beat out East Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and former Texas Supreme Court Judge Eva Guzman to face Paxton. Texas Tribune named Bush as Paxton’s opponent for the runoff just before 11:30 p.m.
Gohmert will be out of elected office for the first time in decades at the end of 2022. He will have spent the last 16 years representing East Texas in Congress. Before that, he had spent 10 years as a district judge in Smith County and had briefly been appointed Chief Justice of the Texas 12th Court of Appeals by Rick Perry.
Paxton has boasted his endorsement from former President Trump, a holy grail coveted in Texas GOP primaries. He also is running on his work of suing the Biden administration on topics ranging from vaccine mandates to immigration.
Bush had visited Tyler last week during the final days of the campaign and spoke on Paxton’s legal problems.
“I’m not here to assault him, but I have to remind you that he’s facing three felony counts in Houston court, 99 years of maximum criminal sentencing, and he refuses to sit down for a jury trial that’s been pending for seven years,” Bush said.
