U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, Paxton aide turned foe, to run for Texas attorney general

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U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, announced a run for Texas attorney general Thursday, joining a crowded Republican primary field vying to replace Ken Paxton.

A conservative but often rebellious member of Congress, Roy served as Paxton’s top deputy for two years before becoming an outspoken critic of his former boss.

Roy, the policy chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, is best known in Congress for his strong desire to shrink the federal government and willingness to procedurally delay or tank GOP bills he thinks are insufficiently committed to that cause.

The Austin Republican has represented his Central Texas district since 2019. He has led efforts to reimburse his home state for border security spending and require voters to prove U.S. citizenship.

In a statement, Roy said he could continue his congressional work "forever and be fulfilled professionally," but he does not believe members of Congress should serve permanently. Watching the community in his district come together in the wake of the devastating July 4 Hill Country flooding, Roy added, made him want to return to Texas permanently.

"Texas is under assault — from open-border politicians, radical leftists and faceless foreign corporations that threaten our sovereignty, safety and our way of life," the Austin Republican said. "It's time to draw a line in the sand. As Attorney General, I will fight every single day for our God-given rights, for our families and for the future of Texas."

As attorney general, he said he would use his congressional and legal background to take on a variety of ills he sees in the state.

"No more Soros-funded judges and [district attorneys] putting criminals on our streets," he said. "No more judge-made mandates that Texas pay for illegals in our public schools. No more communities built on Sharia law."

Through his six years in Congress, Roy has clashed with members of his party, including President Donald Trump, over his opposition to federal spending bills and efforts to raise the debt ceiling. He provoked Trump’s ire for being among the few Texas Republicans willing to certify the 2020 election results, later saying Trump engaged in “clearly impeachable conduct.” Roy also opposed a lawsuit brought by Paxton seeking to overturn election results in four states, saying the case represented a “dangerous violation of federalism.”

Roy’s occasionally antagonistic relationship with Trump will likely become an issue in the primary, along with his move in 2020 to call for Paxton’s resignation after the attorney general’s senior staff reported him to the FBI for alleged bribery and abuse of office. When those concerns came to light, Roy was among the first to call for Paxton to step down, saying in a statement that his former boss should give up his office for “the good of the people of Texas and the extraordinary public servants who serve at the Office of the Attorney General.”

In an interview Thursday with conservative radio host Mark Davis, Roy said he and Paxton are friends who share similar worldviews.

Roy said his support of the impeachment effort owed to wanting to "give the benefit of the doubt"to his old coworkers who had brought allegations against Paxton, and that questions surrounding his conduct had been asked and answered through the impeachment trial.

"I wish Ken all the best," Roy said. "We have extraordinary overlapping belief systems. ... There were some differences of opinion. That happens in politics."

Roy’s candidacy shakes up an already crowded field that includes state Sens. Joan Huffman of Houston and Mayes Middleton of Galveston, and Aaron Reitz, a former senior aide to Paxton and at the Department of Justice. Roy enters the race with more than $2.5 million in his federal campaign account and a likely headstart on name recognition, stemming from his frequent appearances in the national spotlight.

A recent poll of the attorney general race conducted by Texas Southern University, which did not include Roy, found a wide-open contest, with 73% of likely Republican primary voters unsure of who to vote for. Huffman led at 12%, with Middleton at 8% and Reitz at 7%. At least 60% of voters indicated they did not know enough about any of the three to form an opinion.

As the biggest attorney general's office in a red state, Texas' top lawyer serves an outsized role in the conservative legal movement — a position Paxton has occupied since 2015 and which put him at the center of legal battles with Democratic presidents. Roy said he sees the office as a bulwark against encroachment from radical worldviews, including in the federal government.

Though an ideological ally is in the White House at the moment, Roy said Texas' attorney general needs to be vigilant against those threats, as Paxton has been.

"Ken and his team have done a great job fighting to defend Texas," Roy said in the radio interview. "We’re going to continue that legacy going forward.”

The primary contest, sparked by Paxton’s run for U.S. Senate, will mark the first test of whether Roy’s at times frosty relationship with Trump — and his outspoken comments against Paxton — will withstand scrutiny on the statewide primary ballot. Those factors have not damaged Roy’s electoral prospects thus far in his home district, where the Austin Republican most recently drew a primary challenger in 2022 and won with 83% of the vote.

Before his election to Congress, Roy served in a number of senior roles for some of Texas’ top Republican officials. He began his political career as legal counsel to Sen. John Cornyn, and served as director of state-federal relations under Gov. Rick Perry. He also ghostwrote Perry’s pro-federalism book, “Fed Up!,” and worked on his 2012 presidential campaign.

Roy was working as chief of staff for Sen. Ted Cruz when Paxton was elected to statewide office in 2014. Paxton hired Roy as his first assistant attorney general, and he worked on high-profile cases from Paxton’s first term like the successful legal challenge against the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program.

Roy left the office less than two years later, the first of several dramatic staff shake-ups that have marked Paxton’s tenure. He was replaced by Jeff Mateer, who was among the senior aides who reported Paxton to the FBI.

After the Texas House voted to impeach Paxton over the same allegations that formed the basis of the FBI complaint, Roy reiterated his support for the whistleblowers, saying their “integrity is rock solid against political hot air.” Paxton was later acquitted by the Texas Senate.

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