U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) has announced Monday that he is joining the crowded field of candidates running for Texas Attorney General. Gohmert has represented Texas’ First Congressional District in the House since 2005.
Rep. Louie Gohmert announced his candidacy during an appearance on Newsmax.
After the interview, he tweeted, “Texas I am officially running to be your next Attorney General and will enforce the rule of law.”
“We have got to control our borders. There’s more that needs to be done. There’s more that the attorney general’s office could do. And so, that’s one of the issues that has concerned me greatly, including election integrity. I feel like our attorney general could — should have done more,” Gohmert said during the appearance on Newsmax Monday.
Gohmert’s campaign comes after he announced earlier this month that if he raised $1 million in ten days, he would enter the race.
“I had announced a couple of days ago that if I could raise a million dollars that I would run […] for attorney general, and as of now, the money, it’s been raised. I will be running for the Texas Attorney General’s job,” Gohmert said.
Gohmert joins a Republican primary field that includes current Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.
The Democratic field is crowded with former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, and former ACLU lawyer Rochelle Garza making up their contestants.
They are challenging Republican incumbent Ken Paxton, who has received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Paxton has been the AG of Texas since 2014. He won his 2018 reelection against Democrat Justin Nelson with 50.7% of the vote.
The race has attracted a large field of candidates and interest due to Paxton’s legal issues. Paxton has been under indictment for securities fraud charges since 2015.
Paxton has also been under FBI investigation following claims of abuse of power and corruption made against him by former top staffers.
The challengers, including Louie Gohmert, have all latched onto these issues and made Paxton appear vulnerable. Paxton has dismissed these allegations as being “politically motivated.”
“We need a Texas Attorney General whose top attorneys working for him have not found it necessary to send a letter to the FBI urging an investigation into corruption of their boss,” Gohmert’s campaign website says.
In an announcement video, Gohmert criticizes Paxton, saying he only “started working harder” after the media publicized the allegations by his former top staffers.
Gohmert is known as one of Congress’ most prominent supporters of former President Trump. Following Trump’s election loss last year, Gohmert filed a lawsuit asking former Vice President Mike Pence to challenge Joe Biden’s victory. A federal court tossed the suit.
The filing deadline for candidates is December 13, 2021. The primary election is set for March 1, 2022. If no candidate reaches 50%, a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes will be held on May 24, 2022.
The general election between the primary winner and Paxton is set for November 8, 2022.
