Texas stands among the most powerful and important governments in the world. We ought to have a good lawyer. We don’t. I’m running to be Texas’s next Attorney General in order to change that.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has abused the office for his own personal and political interests, and – following orders – to light destructive partisan fires. Under his control, the office has been corrupted and abused and debased, while its powers to do good have been wasted.
I’m sick of it. And I’m betting that the people of Texas are, too. They do not want more of the same.
The way power is held and used is changing dramatically right now, across the country and here at home. Texas needs an attorney general who can meet the moment – with strength, independence, and a genuine commitment to serve the people of Texas instead of partisan ideology. The current Attorney General cannot and will not. His aspiring successors cannot, and would not. I can, and will.
As a senator, I’ve been able to get important things done. Sometimes by collaborating, sometimes fighting, sometimes both.
Seeing Texas’s worst-in-the-nation uninsured rate, I became the state’s leading voice on Medicaid expansion. When the Legislature wouldn’t act, I reformed the Texas marketplace to enable hundreds of thousands of Texans to buy private health insurance. After Winter Storm Uri, I played a central role in fortifying the Texas power grid, restructuring energy markets, and preserving our vital renewable energy resources. When the Legislature revisited tax incentives, I made it harder for businesses to take advantage of taxpayers, and promoted opportunity in overlooked communities.
The need for change in the OAG is urgent. Texas needs and deserves an attorney general who won’t take orders from Washington DC or from mega-donors, but who will take on market abuse and political corruption; who isn’t driven by party shot-callers or political ambition, but by a commitment to serving the people of this state; who will uphold our freedoms and protect our rights, and who respects and understands the law.
I look forward to traveling across this state, listening and talking and working with Texans everywhere, to ensure that we meet this moment together.
