Aaron Reitz, former top DOJ official and Paxton aide, launches bid for Texas attorney general

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Aaron Reitz, a former senior official at the Department of Justice and veteran of the Texas conservative legal movement, is running for Texas attorney general.

Reitz made his rumored bid public Thursday morning, launching a campaign website that touts his experience "on the frontlines of our state’s and nation’s most important battles."

“We are in a fight for the soul of Texas, our nation and Western Civilization itself,” Reitz said in a press release. “If we lose Texas, we lose the Republic. As attorney general, I’ll use every ounce of legal firepower to defend President Trump, crush the radical Left, advance the America and Texas First agenda, and look out for everyday Texans.”

Until recently, Reitz led the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy, a high-ranking department that advises the Trump administration on legal strategy, legislation and judicial appointments. He left the post Wednesday, penning a resignation letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi in which he touted the agency's strides in restoring "a justice system corroded by left-wing lawfare" during the 72 days he spent there.

Before joining the Trump administration, Reitz was chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and deputy attorney general for legal strategy under Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Reitz is the second candidate to declare for the March 2026 Republican primary to succeed Paxton, who is forgoing reelection to challenge GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. State Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Republican from Galveston, entered the race for attorney general in April.

Middleton brings more electoral experience than Reitz, whose one effort to run for the state House earned him less than 15% of the primary vote. But Reitz brings experience in the trenches of the conservative legal juggernaut that is the Texas Office of the Attorney General. He led the agency’s barrage of lawsuits against the Biden administration, including the failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election in four key battleground states.

A slew of Trump officials applauded Reitz’s service and cheered his return to Texas on X. FBI Director Kash Patel, who also rose to his perch through conservative legal circles, voiced tacit support for Reitz's attorney general bid Wednesday, calling him "a personal friend, great American, and a relentless advocate for law and order" before adding, "now it’s time to deliver on his next mission."

On a 2021 podcast, Reitz laid out his philosophy that the Texas attorney general’s office considers itself to be at war with “the forces that want to destroy the American order, root and branch.”

“Our soldiers are lawyers, and our weapons are lawsuits, and our tactic is lawfare,” he said. “This is the project that we’re engaged in.” On the campaign website, he said Texas had “the single most important state attorney general office in the country,” and if elected, he would ensure its “full weight” is behind Trump’s agenda.

“This is how we will defend the sovereignty of the United States at our southern border, preserve Texans’ Constitutional rights, eradicate wokeness in all its forms, and ensure every Texan has a chance to succeed,” the website says.

In nominating Reitz to the Justice Department, Trump called him a “true MAGA attorney, a warrior for our Constitution.” The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination on a party-line vote, after significant pushback from Democrats. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the panel, called him a “danger to the rule of law” and “completely unfit to serve in any role in the Department of Justice.”

Democrats homed in on Reitz’s statement from his confirmation hearing that there is “no hard and fast rule” on whether public officials are always bound by court rulings, as well as thousands of deleted tweets showing his staunch opposition to gay marriage, abortion and criminal justice reform.

Reitz, a graduate of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas School of Law, also served in the Marine Corps. He was deployed to Afghanistan and remains a member of the Marine Corps Reserve.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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