Bush, Garza best candidates in AG runoffs
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush wasn’t our first choice in the GOP primary for attorney general. Our initial recommendation went to former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, who was supremely qualified for this office. But it was Bush who made the runoff against indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton. Bush’s tenure as land commissioner has been mixed.
Bush has experience, and Garza is highly qualified; Paxton, however, is unfit for office
His office did a poor job handling Hurricane Harvey relief funds, with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finding the Texas General Land Office discriminated against minority residents in how it sought to distribute flood mitigation aid.
His management of the Alamo reimagining project has had its fair share of missteps, but he has moved the project forward. His office consolidated management of the site and has taken important steps to bring proper reverence to the Cradle of Texas Liberty. But Bush has often seemed detached from controversial decisions about the Alamo and heated community debate.
Nevertheless, Bush has experience running a state agency, and Paxton has operated under a persistent ethical cloud. We recommend George P. Bush in the GOP runoff for attorney general.
Bush’s campaign never responded to our many interview requests, and we generally try not to recommend candidates who refuse to meet with us. But Paxton is a deeply flawed incumbent, undeserving of the public’s support.
Paxton, of course, was indicted in 2015 on felony securities fraud charges. He is also reportedly under FBI investigation. This is after a number of former aides accused Paxton of performing favors for Austin investor Nate Paul, who once was a campaign donor.
Allegations include helping Paul avoid foreclosure, the alleged removal of law enforcement files and the hiring of an outside attorney to benefit Paul.
Paxton has denied any wrongdoing, and he has downplayed these more recent allegations. But it’s amazing, and sad, that the state’s top lawyer would so consistently be embroiled in scandal.
Beyond this, it was Paxton who filed a frivolous lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election — a lawsuit the U.S. Supreme Court rejected and one legal expert called “garbage.”
Still, Paxton continues to advance the Big Lie of widespread voter fraud. In 2021, his office’s election integrity unit closed three cases at a cost of $2.2 million.
He has pressured the Republicancontrolled Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which ruled 8-1 in December that the attorney general cannot unilaterally prosecute election cases. Paxton requested a rehearing and then urged
the public to “target the Court of Criminal Appeals to take those people out that voted the wrong way.”
After reports surfaced that the Texas State Bar had filed suit against First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster for his role in filing the lawsuit to overturn the 2020 presidential election (Paxton has said the Texas State Bar is also suing him), Paxton responded by saying his office would be investigating the Texas Bar Foundation for “its possibly aiding and abetting the mass influx of illegal aliens.”
Enough with this garbage.
Republican voters should consider the message that a vote for Paxton sends to all public officials — as well as what it would mean to reject such behavior. There is nothing conservative about wasting money on nonexistent voter fraud cases, lying about the presidential election outcome, or using the power of public office to intimidate or harass others.
On the Democratic side, we are sticking with our earlier recommendation of Rochelle Garza, who was once a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. She faces Joe Jaworski, former mayor of Galveston.
Garza lives in Brownsville, and she is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Houston Law Center. She would offer a remarkably different attorney general’s office, one that would defend civil liberties, support voting rights and be free of this persistent ethical cloud.
Both Democratic candidates are extremely qualified to serve as Texas’ next attorney general.
Should Paxton win this primary runoff, as expected, those Republicans concerned by his ethics and behavior should cross party lines and vote for the Democrat on the ballot.
We understand why this could be difficult for some Republican voters — party identification is strong for many people, and it would mean making concessions on certain core issues — but good governance is a nonpartisan concern.