2014 Texas Attorney General election

The 2014 Texas Attorney General election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Attorney General of Texas. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott was eligible to seek re-election to a fourth term, but instead decided to run for governor. Republican state senator Ken Paxton defeated Democratic attorney Sam Houston with 58.81% of the vote.^[2]

2014 Texas Attorney General election

← 2010 November 4, 2014 2018 →
Turnout	24.6%[1] ( 1.2%)
Nominee Ken Paxton Sam Houston Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,742,646 1,773,108 Percentage 58.81% 38.02%
County results Paxton:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Houston:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Attorney General before election Greg Abbott Republican Elected Attorney General Ken Paxton Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ken Paxton, state senator^[3]

Eliminated in primary

• Dan Branch, state representative^[4]
• Barry Smitherman, chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas^[5]

Declined

• Greg Abbott, incumbent attorney general (running for governor)^[6]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Dan Branch	Ken Paxton	Barry Smitherman	Other	Undecided
UoT/Texas Tribune[7]	February 7–17, 2014	461	± 4.56%	42%	38%	20%	—	—
UoT/Texas Tribune[8]	October 18–27, 2013	519	± 5.02%	5%	10%	11%	—	74%

Results

Republican primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Paxton	569,034	44.45%
	Republican	Dan Branch	428,325	33.46%
	Republican	Barry Smitherman	282,701	22.08%
Total votes			1,280,060	100.00%

Runoff results

Republican primary runoff results^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Paxton	466,224	63.63%
	Republican	Dan Branch	266,539	36.37%
Total votes			732,763	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Sam Houston, attorney and nominee for Texas Supreme Court Justice Place 7 in 2008^[11]

Results

Democratic primary results^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sam Houston	437,518	100.00%
Total votes			437,518	100.00%

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jamie Balagia^[13]

Eliminated in primary

• Tom Glass, Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Texas^[14]

Green primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jamar Osborne^[15]

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ken Paxton (R)	Sam Houston (D)	Other	Undecided
UoT/Texas Tribune[16]	October 10–19, 2014	866	± 3.6%	54%	34%	12%[a]	—
UoT/Texas Tribune[17]	May 30–June 8, 2014	1,200	± 2.83%	40%	27%	6%[b]	27%

Results

2014 Texas Attorney General election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Paxton	2,742,646	58.81%
	Democratic	Sam Houston	1,773,108	38.02%
	Libertarian	Jamie Balagia	118,186	2.53%
	Green	Jamar Osborne	29,590	0.63%
Majority			969,538	20.79%
Total votes			4,663,530	100.00%
Turnout				24.65%
	Republican hold

See also

• Texas Attorney General

Notes

1. Jamie Balagia (L) with 8%; Jamar Osborne (G) with 4%
2. Jamie Balagia (L) with 3%; Jamar Osborne (G) with 3%