Johnson is the first Democrat to announce for Texas A.G. He does not have to give up his current seat in the state senate since it doesn’t expire until 2028.
DALLAS — State Sen. Nathan Johnson from Dallas becomes the first Democrat to announce a campaign for Texas Attorney General.
“Attorney General Ken Paxton has abused the office for his own personal and political interests,” said Sen. Johnson in his campaign announcement. “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.”
Paxton, the incumbent Republican, is leaving the office to challenge John Cornyn for U.S. Senate opening a statewide seat for the first time in more than a decade.
“As a senator, I’ve been able to get important things done,” Johnson explained, “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.”
At the State Capitol, Johnson has created a reputation for focusing on detailed policy rather than red meat cultural issues.
Since voters elected him in 2018, Johnson has filed more than 400 pieces of legislation with 134 of them passed into law, his campaign said.
Democratic political consultant Matt Angle told WFAA that he expects other Democrats to also consider joining the race, including potentially State Senator Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio), who lost to Allred in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate; Justin Nelson, who was the 2018 Democratic nominee for Texas attorney general who lost to Ken Paxton by less than four percentage points; and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, who lost in the Democratic primary runoff for Attorney General in 2022.
Several Republicans are already running for the GOP nomination including former Paxton aide Aaron Reitz, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) and State Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston).
Johnson does not have to give up his current seat to run for A.G. since his senate term does not expire until 2028. He is a graduate of UT-Austin’s law school and currently practices at Thompson Coburn, LLP in Dallas.
Despite being known as a policy wonk, Johnson’s campaign said he also makes his own peanut butter and has composed musical scores for the Dragon Ball Z anime series.