No candidate won a majority in the March primary. Democrat Johnson and Republican Middleton will face off in the November general election.
AUSTIN, Texas — The November ballot is set for the race for Texas attorney general after a primary runoff election on both sides of the aisle.
Republican State Sen. Mayes Middleton will face Democrat State Sen. Nathan Johnson in the general election. Both are trying to secure the spot as the state’s next top lawyer after current Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate after defeating Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary runoff.
Election Day for the general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
About Republican Mayes Middleton
Middleton first announced his intention to run for attorney general in April 2025, shortly after Paxton announced he would be challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Cornyn. In the time since, Middleton has branded himself as “MAGA Mayes,” aligning himself with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.
“This is a calling for me – it is not a job. The most important thing in the attorney general’s role is defeating the left, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past seven years in the Legislature,” Middleton said in a recent interview with KVUE, adding, “This is a ‘show me, don’t tell me’ business. We are tired of politicians telling us what they’re gonna do; they’ve gotta show us the results. And that’s exactly what I can do.”
On his campaign website, Middleton says he is committed to “protecting Texas values, defending common sense, and putting hardworking families first.” His priorities include securing the border, cracking down on crime and holding “rogue district attorneys accountable,” shutting down “the woke-left’s radical gender agenda” and eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse in government,” among other things.
Middleton is an attorney and president of the Middleton Oil Company, and he also runs ranching, cattle and farming operations. In the Texas Senate, he represents Senate District 11, which covers portions of Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties. He says during his time in the Texas Legislature, he has “consistently ranked among the most conservative members.”
Prior to his time in the Texas Senate, Middleton served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives, representing Chambers and Galveston counties. During his final term in the house, he served as chairman of the Texas House Freedom Caucus.
He has a law degree from the University of Texas Law School.
About Democrat Nathan Johnson
In a recent interview with KVUE, Johnson said the Attorney General’s Office has become hyper-partisan and he wants to move away from that, but he also recognizes that it always operates in a “very political environment.”
“To really be effective, you’re going to have to understand that environment,” Johnson said. “Eight years of serving in the Texas legislature, of fighting with Republicans, of working with Republicans – of figuring out, you know, ‘When’s time to throw a punch? When’s time to lend a hand?’ – that kind of stuff comes through experience.”
According to his campaign website, Johnson’s main issues include rooting out corruption, protecting consumers and “leading the fight against the MAGA machine’s assault on our individual rights, against the looting of our tax dollars, and against federal overreach.” But when speaking with KVUE, Johnson said his No. 1 priority is rebuilding the Office of the Attorney General.
“It has been sapped of talent; it has been sapped of civic spirit and corporate culture,” he said. “People do not want to work under Ken Paxton, do not want to work under a Mayes Middleton or a Chip Roy administration because they – good public servants aren’t there to put on a show to please a right wing, ‘wheels off’ president. And it’s not surprising that a lot of really good people – some conservative, some progressive – have left the attorney general’s office … My No. 1 job is to get great people in the office.”
For years, the Texas AG’s Office has continuously challenged federal legislation – and with decades of Republican attorneys general, that has meant challenging Democratic policies. KVUE asked Johnson how he would approach that process if he were to be elected as the state’s first Democratic AG since 1999.
“The question is whether or not the presidential administration is violating the American Constitution, violating federal law, violating Texans’ rights – individual civil rights, voting rights, human rights … The Trump administration has a choice to make: they can either get sued by me frequently, or they can stop breaking the law,” Johnson said, adding, “I do not wanna have to spend my time suing the Trump administration, but I absolutely will spend time and resource suing the Trump administration when they’re harming the people of my state.”
Johnson is a litigator and mediator at Thomas Coburn LLP in Dallas and has composed musical scores for the anime series “Dragon Ball Z.” He has served in the Texas Senate since 2019, representing District 16, which covers Dallas County. In that time, he says he has authored more than 400 bills and passed 134 into law.
Johnson has a B.S. in physics from the University of Arizona and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.