A perennial Republican political survivor and a Trump loyalist, he won a third term, defeating a progressive civil rights lawyer.
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Ken Paxton won a third term as attorney general of Texas, overcoming accusations of corruption and securities fraud.
HOUSTON — Despite a lingering criminal indictment and accusations of corruption by former top aides, Ken Paxton, the perennial Republican political survivor and Trump loyalist, won re-election on Tuesday to a third term as the attorney general of Texas, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Paxton handily defeated his Democratic challenger, Rochelle Garza, a progressive civil rights lawyer who made her name defending the abortion rights of an undocumented teenager in federal custody.
Ms. Garza had at times appeared within striking distance in polls, perhaps owing to Mr. Paxton’s legal troubles: He has remained under indictment in a 2015 securities fraud case and has been under federal investigation on suspicion of corruption for more than a year.
But Mr. Paxton has managed to overcome those liabilities repeatedly, finishing first in the March primary, where he faced a well-known and well-funded crop of Republican challengers, and then winning a runoff with George P. Bush, the state land commissioner and a scion of the famous Texas political family.
Mr. Paxton, who as attorney general pursued conservative policies on immigration and abortion and opposed medical treatment for transgender young people, enjoyed a close alliance with former President Donald J. Trump.
He aligned himself with Mr. Trump’s failed efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and spoke before Mr. Trump at the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington that preceded the storming of the Capitol. Mr. Paxton has benefited both from Mr. Trump’s endorsement and from his efforts to sow distrust in government institutions, including federal investigators.
Source: nytimes.com
