On November 23, 2021, Texas State Representative Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) announced that he would be ending his campaign for Attorney General and is instead running for Tarrant County district attorney.
According to The Texas Tribune, Krause began entertaining the idea of running for district attorney after Sharon Wilson, Tarrant County’s incumbent district attorney, suddenly announced her retirement earlier in November.
Krause claimed to have received “tons of calls” to run for the open district attorney spot in Tarrant County. The state representative for the Texas House’s 93rd district cited “family considerations” as a motivating factor for running for district attorney, given that the position is based in Fort Worth, where he currently lives.
According to an initial report by WFAA, Krause announced his decision late on the night of November 22, after U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) announced he would be entering the crowded primary race for attorney general.
Krause promised to back Gohmert’s campaign, declaring that Gohmert is “running in the same exact lane that I was, and I think it makes a lot of sense to try to help him out.”
Now that Krause has exited the Attorney General race, incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing Gohmert, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and Eva Guzman, a former justice on the Texas Supreme Court.
Krause launched his campaign for Attorney General on September 16 but was not very active. Through October 19, Krause raised $435,000, which mostly came from State Rep. Mayes Middleton of Wallisville.
Krause recently made waves by launching an investigation into controversial content in children’s literature throughout Texas public schools as Chairman of the General Investigating committee in the Texas House.
Sharon Wilson, Tarrant County’s current district attorney, announced on November 9 that she would not be running for re-election.
Besides Krause, several other Republicans have announced their intentions to run for district attorney in Tarrant County.
Krause was first elected to the Texas State House in 2012 and is a member of the Texas House Freedom Caucus.
