# 2022 Texas Attorney General election

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vte :
The 2022 Texas Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of Texas. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton won re-election to his third term. Paxton won 233 counties and won the popular vote by a margin of 9.7%, underperforming Governor Greg Abbott's concurrent bid for re-election by 1.1%.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Ken Paxton, incumbent attorney general

#### Eliminated in runoff

* George P. Bush, commissioner of the Texas General Land Office

#### Eliminated in primary

* Louie Gohmert, U.S. Representative for Texas's 1st congressional district (declined to endorse in runoff)
* Eva Guzman, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (2009–2021)

#### Withdrawn

* Matt Krause, state representative from the 93rd district (running for Tarrant County district attorney; endorsed Gohmert)

### Endorsements

U.S. Executive Branch officials
* James Baker, former White House Chief of Staff (1981–1985, 1992–1993), former U.S. Secretary of State (1989–1992) and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1985–1988)
State senators
* Jon Bramnick, New Jersey state senator (2022–present) and former state assemblyman (2003–2022) from the 21st district
Local officials
* Otto Hanak, Washington County Sheriff (2013–present)
* Jeffrey Lyde, Clay County Sheriff
* Anthony Williams, Mayor of Abilene (2017–present)
Newspapers
* Fort Worth Star-Telegram (dual endorsement with Garza)
* San Antonio Express-News (dual endorsement with Garza)
Organizations
* National Border Patrol Council
Individuals
* Mattress Mack, businessman
U.S. Executive Branch officials
* Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States (2017–2021)
Organizations
* American Conservative Union
* Texas Alliance for Life
Newspaper and other media
* The Houston Chronicle (Republican primary only)
* Austin American-Statesman (Republican primary only)
Organizations
* Texans for Lawsuit Reform
State representatives
* Matt Krause, state representative from the 93rd district (2013–present) and withdrawn candidate

### First round
#### Polling
##### Graphical summary

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | George P. Bush | Louie Gohmert | Eva Guzman | Matt Krause | Ken Paxton | Other | Undecided |
| Emerson College | February 21–22, 2022 | 522 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 20% | 12% | 12% | – | 43% | – | 14% |
| UT Tyler | February 8–15, 2022 | 577 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 25% | 7% | 13% | – | 39% | – | 16% |
| YouGov/UT | January 28 – February 7, 2022 | 375 (LV) | ± 5.1% | 21% | 15% | 16% | – | 47% | 1% | – |
| UT Tyler | January 18–25, 2022 | 503 (LV) | ± 5.1% | 19% | 8% | 7% | – | 33% | – | 33% |
| YouGov/UH | January 14–24, 2022 | 490 (LV) | ± 3.7% | 16% | 13% | 8% | – | 39% | – | 24% |
| | November 23, 2021 | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race | Krause withdraws from the race |
| UT Tyler | November 9–16, 2021 | 401 (LV) | ± 5.3% | 32% | – | 7% | – | 46% | 7% | 8% |
| YouGov/UT/TT | October 22–31, 2021 | 554 (RV) | ± 4.2% | 16% | – | 2% | 3% | 48% | 3% | 27% |
| YouGov/TXHPF | October 14–27, 2021 | 405 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 17% | – | 6% | 2% | 50% | – | 25% |
| UT Tyler | September 7–14, 2021 | 348 (LV) | ± 6.7% | 28% | – | 5% | – | 43% | 14% | 10% |
| UT Tyler | June 20–29, 2021 | 337 (LV) | ± 6.1% | 34% | – | 4% | – | 42% | 12% | 8% |

#### Results

Gohmert performed best in Texas's 1st congressional district, where he served as a US representative at the time; Guzman performed best in urban Travis, Harris, and Dallas counties; Bush performed best in the Rio Grande Valley; and Paxton performed best in the Texas Panhandle, South Plains, and Southeast Texas.
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Ken Paxton (incumbent) | 823,199 | 42.71% |
| | Republican | George P. Bush | 439,240 | 22.79% |
| | Republican | Eva Guzman | 337,761 | 17.52% |
| | Republican | Louie Gohmert | 327,257 | 16.98% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,927,457 | 100.00% |

### Runoff
#### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | George P. Bush | Ken Paxton | Undecided |
| UT Tyler | May 2–10, 2022 | 570 (LV) | ± 4.6% | 35% | 41% | 24% |
| CWS Research (R) | May 4–10, 2022 | 992 (LV) | ± 3.1% | 31% | 58% | 11% |
| CWS Research (R) | March 29 – April 2, 2022 | 678 (LV) | ± 3.8% | 30% | 59% | 11% |
| YouGov/TXHPF | March 18–28, 2022 | 438 (LV) | ± 4.7% | 23% | 65% | 12% |

#### Results

Republican primary runoff results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Ken Paxton (incumbent) | 633,223 | 67.96% |
| | Republican | George P. Bush | 298,577 | 32.04% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 931,800 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Rochelle Mercedes Garza, former attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union

#### Eliminated in runoff

* Joe Jaworski, attorney, mediator, former mayor of Galveston, and grandson of former U.S. Department of Justice special counsel Leon Jaworski

#### Eliminated in primary

* Mike Fields, attorney and former judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 14 (endorsed Garza in runoff)
* Lee Merritt, civil rights attorney (endorsed Garza in runoff)
* S. T-Bone Raynor, attorney

#### Declined

* Justin Nelson, nominee for Texas Attorney General in 2018

### Endorsements

Labor unions
* Texas AFL–CIO
Newspapers and other media
* The Austin Chronicle (dual endorsement with Garza)
* The Dallas Morning News
* The Houston Chronicle (Democratic primary only)
Organizations
* Stonewall Democrats of Dallas
U.S. Senators
* Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont
U.S. Representatives
* Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. Representative for Texas's 18th congressional district
State senators
* Royce West, state senator from the 23rd district
Local officials
* Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston and former Texas state representative from the 139th district
Organizations
* Texas Organizing Project (endorse Garza in the runoff)
U.S. Representatives
* Vicente González, U.S. Representative for Texas's 15th congressional district
* Filemón Vela, U.S. Representative for Texas's 34th congressional district
Local officials
* Mike Fields, former judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 14 and former Attorney General candidate
Newspapers and other media
* Austin American-Statesman (Democratic primary only)
* The Austin Chronicle (dual endorsement with Jaworski)
* Fort Worth Star-Telegram (dual endorsement with Bush)
* San Antonio Express-News (dual endorsement with Bush)
Individuals
* Lee Merritt, civil rights attorney and former Attorney General candidate
Labor unions
* Texas AFL–CIO
* Texas Federation of Teachers
Organizations
* Annie's List
* EMILY's List
* End Citizens United
* Equality Texas
* Latino Victory Fund
* NARAL Pro-Choice America
* Texas College Democrats
* Planned Parenthood Texas Votes
* Texas Organizing Project

### First round
#### Polling
##### Graphical summary

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Mike Fields | Rochelle Garza | Joe Jaworski | Lee Merritt | S. T-Bone Raynor | Other | Undecided |
| Emerson College | February 21–22, 2022 | 388 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 5% | 30% | 22% | 16% | 5% | – | 22% |
| UT Tyler | February 8–15, 2022 | 479 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 9% | 22% | 13% | 9% | 6% | – | 42% |
| YouGov/UT | January 28 – February 7, 2022 | 332 (LV) | ± 5.4% | 11% | 41% | 24% | 15% | 6% | 3% | – |
| UT Tyler | January 18–25, 2022 | 460 (LV) | ± 5.4% | 7% | 11% | 11% | 6% | 4% | – | 61% |
| YouGov/UH | January 14–24, 2022 | 616 (LV) | ± 3.3% | 6% | 13% | 10% | 7% | 6% | – | 57% |
| YouGov/UT/TT | October 22–31, 2021 | 436 (RV) | ± 4.7% | – | – | 14% | 8% | – | 6% | 72% |
| YouGov/TXHPF | October 14–27, 2021 | – (LV) | – | – | – | 20% | 20% | – | – | 60% |

#### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Rochelle Mercedes Garza | 438,134 | 42.97% |
| | Democratic | Joe Jaworski | 202,140 | 19.82% |
| | Democratic | Lee Merritt | 198,108 | 19.43% |
| | Democratic | Mike Fields | 125,373 | 12.30% |
| | Democratic | S. T-Bone Raynor | 55,944 | 5.49% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,019,699 | 100.00% |

### Runoff
#### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Rochelle Garza | Joe Jaworski | Undecided |
| UT Tyler | May 2–10, 2022 | 501 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 35% | 20% | 46% |
| YouGov/TXHPF | March 18–28, 2022 | 435 (LV) | ± 4.7% | 46% | 31% | 23% |

#### Results

Democratic primary runoff results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Rochelle Mercedes Garza | 305,168 | 62.67% |
| | Democratic | Joe Jaworski | 181,744 | 37.33% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 486,912 | 100.00% |

## Libertarian convention
### Declared

* Mark Ash, attorney and candidate for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas in 2020

## General election

On October 27, 2022, Libertarian nominee Mark Ash published an op-ed in The Amarillo Pioneer in which he blasted Ken Paxton as "the poster child for corruption and authoritarianism" and recommended that if voters were "reluctant to throw away their votes on a third-party candidate," they should vote for Democratic nominee Rochelle Garza instead. The Texas Democratic Party put out a statement claiming that Ash had endorsed Garza, but Ash clarified that he was not endorsing her, nor would he be dropping out of the race.

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Leans R | November 3, 2022 |
| Elections Daily | Likely R | November 1, 2022 |

### Polling

Graphical summary
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ken Paxton (R) | Rochelle Garza (D) | Mark Ash (L) | Other | Undecided |
| CWS Research (R) | November 2–5, 2022 | 786 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 44% | 38% | 5% | – | 12% |
| UT Tyler | October 17–24, 2022 | 1,330 (RV) | ± 2.9% | 39% | 35% | 5% | 4% | 18% |
| UT Tyler | October 17–24, 2022 | 973 (LV) | ± 3.4% | 42% | 38% | 4% | 3% | 12% |
| Emerson College | October 17–19, 2022 | 1,000 (LV) | ± 3.0% | 47% | 42% | 4% | – | 8% |
| Siena College | October 16–19, 2022 | 649 (LV) | ± 5.1% | 48% | 42% | – | 2% | 8% |
| ActiVote | June 23 – September 21, 2022 | 209 (LV) | ± 7.0% | 45% | 43% | 12% | – | – |
| Siena College | September 14–18, 2022 | 651 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 47% | 42% | – | – | 11% |
| Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation | September 6–15, 2022 | 1,172 (LV) | ± 2.9% | 47% | 42% | 3% | – | 8% |
| UT Tyler | September 7–13, 2022 | 1,243 (RV) | ± 2.9% | 37% | 30% | 6% | 6% | 20% |
| YouGov/UT | August 26 – September 6, 2022 | 1,200 (RV) | ± 2.8% | 38% | 33% | 4% | 5% | 21% |
| YouGov/UH/TSU | August 11–29, 2022 | 1,312 (LV) | ± 2.7% | 45% | 42% | 3% | – | 10% |
| UT Tyler | August 1–7, 2022 | 1,384 (RV) | ± 2.8% | 34% | 32% | 8% | 7% | 18% |
| UT Tyler | August 1–7, 2022 | 1,199 (LV) | ± 3.0% | 36% | 34% | 8% | 6% | 16% |
| YouGov/UH | June 27 – July 7, 2022 | 1,169 (RV) | ± 2.9% | 43% | 40% | 5% | – | 12% |
| YouGov/UH | June 27 – July 7, 2022 | 1,006 (LV) | ± 3.1% | 46% | 41% | 4% | – | 9% |
| YouGov/UT | June 16–24, 2022 | 1,200 (RV) | ± 2.8% | 37% | 29% | 5% | 5% | 24% |
| YouGov/TXHPF | March 18–28, 2022 | 1,139 (LV) | ± 2.6% | 48% | 42% | 3% | – | 7% |
George P. Bush vs. Rochelle Garza
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | George P. Bush (R) | Rochelle Garza (D) | Mark Ash (L) | Undecided |
| YouGov/TXHPF | March 18–28, 2022 | 1,139 (LV) | ± 2.6% | 39% | 39% | 7% | 15% |
George P. Bush vs. Joe Jaworski
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | George P. Bush (R) | Joe Jaworski (D) | Mark Ash (L) | Undecided |
| YouGov/TXHPF | March 18–28, 2022 | 1,139 (LV) | ± 2.6% | 38% | 39% | 8% | 15% |
Ken Paxton vs. Joe Jaworski
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ken Paxton (R) | Joe Jaworski (D) | Mark Ash (L) | Undecided |
| YouGov/TXHPF | March 18–28, 2022 | 1,139 (LV) | ± 2.6% | 48% | 41% | 3% | 8% |
Ken Paxton vs. Justin Nelson
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ken Paxton (R) | Justin Nelson (D) | Undecided |
| Data for Progress (D) | September 15–22, 2020 | 726 (LV) | ± 3.6% | 41% | 37% | 22% |

### Results

2022 Texas Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Ken Paxton (incumbent) | 4,278,986 | 53.42% | +2.85% |
| | Democratic | Rochelle Garza | 3,497,267 | 43.66% | −3.35% |
| | Libertarian | Mark Ash | 233,750 | 2.92% | +0.49% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 8,010,003 | 100.00% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### By congressional district

Paxton won 25 of 38 congressional districts.
| District | Paxton | Garza | Representative |
| 1st | 76% | 22% | Louie Gohmert (117th Congress) |
| 1st | 76% | 22% | Nathaniel Moran (118th Congress) |
| 2nd | 61% | 36% | Dan Crenshaw |
| 3rd | 57% | 39% | Van Taylor (117th Congress) |
| 3rd | 57% | 39% | Keith Self (118th Congress) |
| 4th | 64% | 33% | Pat Fallon |
| 5th | 62% | 35% | Lance Gooden |
| 6th | 63% | 34% | Jake Ellzey |
| 7th | 35% | 63% | Lizzie Fletcher |
| 8th | 66% | 32% | Kevin Brady (117th Congress) |
| 8th | 66% | 32% | Morgan Luttrell (118th Congress) |
| 9th | 23% | 75% | Al Green |
| 10th | 60% | 37% | Michael McCaul |
| 11th | 72% | 25% | August Pfluger |
| 12th | 58% | 38% | Kay Granger |
| 13th | 73% | 24% | Ronny Jackson |
| 14th | 65% | 32% | Randy Weber |
| 15th | 51% | 47% | Vicente Gonzalez (117th Congress) |
| 15th | 51% | 47% | Monica De La Cruz (118th Congress) |
| 16th | 34% | 63% | Veronica Escobar |
| 17th | 63% | 34% | Pete Sessions |
| 18th | 25% | 72% | Sheila Jackson Lee |
| 19th | 75% | 23% | Jodey Arrington |
| 20th | 32% | 65% | Joaquín Castro |
| 21st | 59% | 38% | Chip Roy |
| 22nd | 59% | 39% | Troy Nehls |
| 23rd | 53% | 44% | Tony Gonzales |
| 24th | 55% | 41% | Beth Van Duyne |
| 25th | 66% | 31% | Roger Williams |
| 26th | 59% | 37% | Michael Burgess |
| 27th | 62% | 35% | Michael Cloud |
| 28th | 45% | 52% | Henry Cuellar |
| 29th | 30% | 68% | Sylvia Garcia |
| 30th | 21% | 76% | Eddie Bernice Johnson (117th Congress) |
| 30th | 21% | 76% | Jasmine Crockett (118th Congress) |
| 31st | 59% | 37% | John Carter |
| 32nd | 33% | 64% | Colin Allred |
| 33rd | 25% | 72% | Marc Veasey |
| 34th | 41% | 57% | Mayra Flores (117th Congress) |
| 34th | 41% | 57% | Vicente Gonzalez (118th Congress) |
| 35th | 25% | 72% | Lloyd Doggett (117th Congress) |
| 35th | 25% | 72% | Greg Casar (118th Congress) |
| 36th | 67% | 31% | Brian Babin |
| 37th | 20% | 77% | Lloyd Doggett |
| 38th | 60% | 38% | Wesley Hunt |