Mayes Middleton and Nathan Johnson offer stark contrast in race for open Texas Attorney General seat

The race for Texas Attorney General is now set for November. 

In the Republican runoff, State Senator Mayes Middleton of Galveston, who campaigned as "MAGA Mayes Middleton," easily defeated Central Texas Congressman Chip Roy. 

In the Democratic runoff for attorney general, state senator Nathan Johnson beat former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski. 

Now, Johnson will face Middleton in the fall. 

Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink spoke with Middleton following the May runoff. When asked if his top priority remains defeating the left, Middleton said, "Look, we're in a spiritual battle for the future of our state. They're trying to destroy Texas. And when I mean they: the left. And that is why this fight is so important." 

Middleton continued by bringing up the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico, as an example of Democrats running "on the campaign promise of not following the law." He cited Talarico's previous comments where he said God was non-binary, and the Ten Commandments were un-Christian and un-American.

"The Democrat in my race for Attorney General, Nathan Johnson, he actually had a debate in his primary, and he said the number one law he would not enforce and not follow is one I authored and passed, the women's privacy law, which kicks men out of women's restrooms and locker rooms," Middleton said. 

"This is common sense right here," he added, "and we've got to make sure, and I will make sure that those Texas values are protected and defended, and I will aggressively enforce our laws to do so."

Jack Fink also spoke with Johnson about his priorities, which he says are less partisan. 

"The Attorney General's Office is intended to be one of the most powerful, benevolent agencies that the framers ever created," said Johnson. "And it has, to our great disadvantage, over the past ten years, shamefully been transformed into little more than a partisan hack tool, a propaganda machine for a faction of a party that is not only doing great damage. It's leaving undone the good work that the office is supposed to do."

"I'm the law and order, tough-on-crime candidate here," said Middleton when asked about Johnson's priority to make the office less partisan. "I want to make sure that Texas is the safest state in America to live and raise a family. That's how we keep our family safe. That's how we secure those God-granted freedoms of life and liberty and property, and we have to enforce our laws. You know, the problem with the left is they think our laws and Constitution are some sort of suggestion." 

Johnson told Jack that if he is elected, people should expect that he is going to file suit against the Trump administration.

"Extremely likely that you would see me in my office suing the Trump administration," said Johnson. "It is not a goal of mine. I have more productive things to do than to sue the federal government for breaking the law. But Trump seems to have made it policy to ignore the law, to trample on rights, to actually trample on states' rights. I can't imagine that he's going to have an epiphany in November and decide to start complying with the Administrative Procedures Act and respecting the Constitution and the separation of powers and principles of federalism." 

"I'm not running for this office just so I can be fighting all the time," Johnson added. "I'm going to have to fight a lot. But there is a productive element to government that I think we owe it to the public, whatever office you're in."

Jack asked Middleton if Middleton would do the same should a Democrat be elected president in 2028.

"We had four years of lawlessness," said Middleton. "We had four years of a federal administration that was attacking Texas, not just our jobs, but our way of life, our public safety, compromising the family safety of this great state. And not even just that alone, right? They were going after the fundamental things that make us the greatest state in America."

"You know, Joe Biden was trying to force boys into girls' sports," Middleton continued. "He was trying to force men into women's restrooms and locker rooms. And that was something they used to say: 'Oh, that's never going to happen.' That's a solution in search of a problem. You know what? It did happen."