2022 Texas Attorney General election

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.^[1][2][3] 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%.

2022 Texas Attorney General election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →
Turnout	36.6% ( 5.0%)
Nominee Ken Paxton Rochelle Mercedes Garza Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,278,986 3,497,267 Percentage 53.42% 43.66%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results Paxton:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Garza:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data
Attorney General before election Ken Paxton Republican Elected Attorney General Ken Paxton Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ken Paxton, incumbent attorney general^[2][4]

Eliminated in runoff

• George P. Bush, commissioner of the Texas General Land Office^[5]

Eliminated in primary

• Louie Gohmert, U.S. Representative for Texas's 1st congressional district^[6] (declined to endorse in runoff)^[7]
• Eva Guzman, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (2009–2021)^[8]

Withdrawn

• Matt Krause, state representative from the 93rd district (running for Tarrant County district attorney; endorsed Gohmert)^[9]

Endorsements

George P. Bush

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)^[10]

State senators

• Jon Bramnick, New Jersey state senator (2022–present) and former state assemblyman (2003–2022) from the 21st district^[11]

Local officials

• Otto Hanak, Washington County Sheriff (2013–present)^[12]
• Jeffrey Lyde, Clay County Sheriff^[10]
• Anthony Williams, Mayor of Abilene (2017–present)^[13]

Newspapers

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram^[14] (dual endorsement with Garza)
• San Antonio Express-News^[15] (dual endorsement with Garza)

Organizations

• National Border Patrol Council^[10]

Individuals

• Mattress Mack, businessman^[16]

Ken Paxton

U.S. Executive Branch officials

• Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States (2017–2021)^[17]

Organizations

• American Conservative Union^[18]
• Texas Alliance for Life^[19]

Eva Guzman

Newspaper and other media

• The Houston Chronicle^[20] (Republican primary only)
• Austin American-Statesman^[21] (Republican primary only)

Organizations

• Texans for Lawsuit Reform^[8]

Louie Gohmert

State representatives

• Matt Krause, state representative from the 93rd district (2013–present) and withdrawn candidate^[22]

First round

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	George P. Bush	Louie Gohmert	Eva Guzman	Matt Krause	Ken Paxton	Other	Undecided
Emerson College[23]	February 21–22, 2022	522 (LV)	± 4.2%	20%	12%	12%	–	43%	–	14%
UT Tyler[24]	February 8–15, 2022	577 (LV)	± 4.4%	25%	7%	13%	–	39%	–	16%
YouGov/UT[25]	January 28 – February 7, 2022	375 (LV)	± 5.1%	21%	15%	16%	–	47%	1%	–
UT Tyler[26]	January 18–25, 2022	503 (LV)	± 5.1%	19%	8%	7%	–	33%	–	33%
YouGov/UH[27]	January 14–24, 2022	490 (LV)	± 3.7%	16%	13%	8%	–	39%	–	24%
	November 23, 2021	Krause withdraws from the race
UT Tyler[28]	November 9–16, 2021	401 (LV)	± 5.3%	32%	–	7%	–	46%	7%	8%
YouGov/UT/TT[29]	October 22–31, 2021	554 (RV)	± 4.2%	16%	–	2%	3%	48%	3%	27%
YouGov/TXHPF[30]	October 14–27, 2021	405 (LV)	± 4.9%	17%	–	6%	2%	50%	–	25%
UT Tyler[31]	September 7–14, 2021	348 (LV)	± 6.7%	28%	–	5%	–	43%	14%	10%
UT Tyler[32]	June 20–29, 2021	337 (LV)	± 6.1%	34%	–	4%	–	42%	12%	8%

Results

Primary results map by county:

  Paxton

•   30–40%
    40–50%
    50–60%
    60–70%

  Bush

•   30–40%
    40–50%
    50–60%

  Gohmert

•   30–40%
    40–50%
    50–60%
    60–70%

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.^[33]

Republican primary results^[34][35]

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			1,927,457	100.00%

Runoff

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	George P. Bush	Ken Paxton	Undecided
UT Tyler[36]	May 2–10, 2022	570 (LV)	± 4.6%	35%	41%	24%
CWS Research (R)[37][A]	May 4–10, 2022	992 (LV)	± 3.1%	31%	58%	11%
CWS Research (R)[38][A]	March 29 – April 2, 2022	678 (LV)	± 3.8%	30%	59%	11%
YouGov/TXHPF[39]	March 18–28, 2022	438 (LV)	± 4.7%	23%	65%	12%

Results

Primary runoff results map by county:

  Paxton

•   50–60%
    60–70%
    70–80%
    80–90%
    90–100%

  Bush

•   50–60%
    70–80%
    80–90%

Republican primary runoff results^[40]

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Rochelle Mercedes Garza, former attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union^[41]

Eliminated in runoff

• Joe Jaworski, attorney, mediator, former mayor of Galveston, and grandson of former U.S. Department of Justice special counsel Leon Jaworski^[42]

Eliminated in primary

• Mike Fields, attorney and former judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 14^[43] (endorsed Garza in runoff)^[44][45]
• Lee Merritt, civil rights attorney^[46] (endorsed Garza in runoff)^[44][45]
• S. T-Bone Raynor, attorney^[47]

Endorsements

Joe Jaworski

Labor unions

• Texas AFL–CIO^[48]

Newspapers and other media

• The Austin Chronicle^[49] (dual endorsement with Garza)
• The Dallas Morning News^[50]
• The Houston Chronicle^[51] (Democratic primary only)

Organizations

• Stonewall Democrats of Dallas^[52]

Lee Merritt

U.S. Senators

• Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont^[53]

U.S. Representatives

• Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. Representative for Texas's 18th congressional district^[53]

State senators

• Royce West, state senator from the 23rd district^[53]

Local officials

• Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston and former Texas state representative from the 139th district^[53]

Organizations

• Texas Organizing Project^[54] (endorse Garza in the runoff)

Rochelle Mercedes Garza

U.S. Representatives

• Vicente González, U.S. Representative for Texas's 15th congressional district^[55]
• Filemón Vela, U.S. Representative for Texas's 34th congressional district^[55]

Local officials

• Mike Fields, former judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 14 and former Attorney General candidate^[45]

Newspapers and other media

• Austin American-Statesman^[21] (Democratic primary only)
• The Austin Chronicle^[49] (dual endorsement with Jaworski)
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram^[14] (dual endorsement with Bush)
• San Antonio Express-News^[15] (dual endorsement with Bush)

Individuals

• Lee Merritt, civil rights attorney and former Attorney General candidate^[45]

Labor unions

• Texas AFL–CIO^[56]
• Texas Federation of Teachers^[57]

Organizations

• Annie's List^[58]
• EMILY's List^[59]
• End Citizens United^[60]
• Equality Texas^[61]
• Latino Victory Fund^[62]
• NARAL Pro-Choice America^[63]
• Texas College Democrats^[64]
• Planned Parenthood Texas Votes^[65]
• Texas Organizing Project^[66]

First round

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Mike Fields	Rochelle Garza	Joe Jaworski	Lee Merritt	S. T-Bone Raynor	Other	Undecided
Emerson College[23]	February 21–22, 2022	388 (LV)	± 4.9%	5%	30%	22%	16%	5%	–	22%
UT Tyler[24]	February 8–15, 2022	479 (LV)	± 4.9%	9%	22%	13%	9%	6%	–	42%
YouGov/UT[25]	January 28 – February 7, 2022	332 (LV)	± 5.4%	11%	41%	24%	15%	6%	3%	–
UT Tyler[26]	January 18–25, 2022	460 (LV)	± 5.4%	7%	11%	11%	6%	4%	–	61%
YouGov/UH[27]	January 14–24, 2022	616 (LV)	± 3.3%	6%	13%	10%	7%	6%	–	57%
YouGov/UT/TT[29]	October 22–31, 2021	436 (RV)	± 4.7%	–	–	14%	8%	–	6%	72%
YouGov/TXHPF[30]	October 14–27, 2021	– (LV)	–	–	–	20%	20%	–	–	60%

Results

Democratic primary results^[34][35]

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			1,019,699	100.00%

Runoff

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Rochelle Garza	Joe Jaworski	Undecided
UT Tyler[36]	May 2–10, 2022	501 (LV)	± 4.9%	35%	20%	46%
YouGov/TXHPF[39]	March 18–28, 2022	435 (LV)	± 4.7%	46%	31%	23%

Results

Democratic primary runoff results^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rochelle Mercedes Garza	305,168	62.67%
	Democratic	Joe Jaworski	181,744	37.33%
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^[67]

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.^[68]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[69]	Leans R	November 3, 2022
Elections Daily[70]	Likely R	November 1, 2022

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Ken Paxton (R)	Rochelle Garza (D)	Mark Ash (L)	Other	Undecided
CWS Research (R)[71][A]	November 2–5, 2022	786 (LV)	± 3.5%	44%	38%	5%	–	12%
UT Tyler[72]	October 17–24, 2022	1,330 (RV)	± 2.9%	39%	35%	5%	4%[b]	18%
		973 (LV)	± 3.4%	42%	38%	4%	3%[c]	12%
Emerson College[73]	October 17–19, 2022	1,000 (LV)	± 3.0%	47%	42%	4%	–	8%
Siena College[74]	October 16–19, 2022	649 (LV)	± 5.1%	48%	42%	–	2%[d]	8%
ActiVote[75]	June 23 – September 21, 2022	209 (LV)	± 7.0%	45%	43%	12%	–	–
Siena College[76]	September 14–18, 2022	651 (LV)	± 4.4%	47%	42%	–	–	11%
Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation[77]	September 6–15, 2022	1,172 (LV)	± 2.9%	47%	42%	3%	–	8%
UT Tyler[78]	September 7–13, 2022	1,243 (RV)	± 2.9%	37%	30%	6%	6%[e]	20%
YouGov/UT[79]	August 26 – September 6, 2022	1,200 (RV)	± 2.8%	38%	33%	4%	5%[f]	21%
YouGov/UH/TSU[80]	August 11–29, 2022	1,312 (LV)	± 2.7%	45%	42%	3%	–	10%
UT Tyler[81]	August 1–7, 2022	1,384 (RV)	± 2.8%	34%	32%	8%	7%	18%
		1,199 (LV)	± 3.0%	36%	34%	8%	6%	16%
YouGov/UH[82]	June 27 – July 7, 2022	1,169 (RV)	± 2.9%	43%	40%	5%	–	12%
		1,006 (LV)	± 3.1%	46%	41%	4%	–	9%
YouGov/UT[83]	June 16–24, 2022	1,200 (RV)	± 2.8%	37%	29%	5%	5%	24%
YouGov/TXHPF[39]	March 18–28, 2022	1,139 (LV)	± 2.6%	48%	42%	3%	–	7%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	George P. Bush (R)	Rochelle Garza (D)	Mark Ash (L)	Undecided
YouGov/TXHPF[39]	March 18–28, 2022	1,139 (LV)	± 2.6%	39%	39%	7%	15%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	George P. Bush (R)	Joe Jaworski (D)	Mark Ash (L)	Undecided
YouGov/TXHPF[39]	March 18–28, 2022	1,139 (LV)	± 2.6%	38%	39%	8%	15%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Ken Paxton (R)	Joe Jaworski (D)	Mark Ash (L)	Undecided
YouGov/TXHPF[39]	March 18–28, 2022	1,139 (LV)	± 2.6%	48%	41%	3%	8%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Ken Paxton (R)	Justin Nelson (D)	Undecided
Data for Progress (D)[84][B]	September 15–22, 2020	726 (LV)	± 3.6%	41%	37%	22%

Hypothetical polling

George P. Bush vs. Rochelle Garza

George P. Bush vs. Joe Jaworski

Ken Paxton vs. Joe Jaworski

Ken Paxton vs. Justin Nelson

Results

State House district results

State Senate district results

2022 Texas Attorney General election

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			8,010,003	100.00%
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Paxton won 25 of 38 congressional districts.^[85]

District	Paxton	Garza	Representative
1st	76%	22%	Louie Gohmert (117th Congress)
			Nathaniel Moran (118th Congress)
2nd	61%	36%	Dan Crenshaw
3rd	57%	39%	Van Taylor (117th Congress)
			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)
			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)
			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)
			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)
			Vicente Gonzalez (118th Congress)
35th	25%	72%	Lloyd Doggett (117th Congress)
			Greg Casar (118th Congress)
36th	67%	31%	Brian Babin
37th	20%	77%	Lloyd Doggett
38th	59%	38%	Wesley Hunt

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. "Someone else" with 4%
3. "Someone else" with 3%
4. "Another candidate" with 1%; "Not going to vote" with 1%
5. "Someone else" with 6%
6. "Someone else" with 5%

Partisan clients

1. Poll sponsored by Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which supports Paxton
2. Poll sponsored by the Defend Students Action Fund

See also

• 2022 United States attorney general elections