Cruz, Paxton issue dueling endorsements in Texas attorney general GOP primary

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday endorsed his former top deputy, Aaron Reitz, to succeed him, giving Reitz a significant boost in the four-candidate Republican primary to be Texas’ top civil lawyer.

Paxton’s endorsement comes after Sen. Ted Cruz, a former solicitor general of Texas, backed Rep. Chip Roy for attorney general. Both Reitz and Roy have served as Paxton’s legal deputies and Cruz’s chief of staff throughout their tenures.

But while Paxton and Roy publicly split in 2020, when Roy called for Paxton to step down after the attorney general’s senior staff reported him to the FBI for alleged bribery and abuse of office, Reitz has positioned himself as the heir to Paxton’s movement, calling himself the attorney general’s “offensive coordinator.”

In his endorsement, Paxton agreed with that assessment, crediting Reitz with handling some of the office’s most high-profile — and controversial — cases.

“He drove our Texas v. Biden docket and spearheaded some of our most consequential battles — on border security, immigration, Big Tech, Covid tyranny, energy and the environment, pro-life, Second Amendment, religious liberty, free speech, and election integrity,” Paxton said in a statement. “Aaron Reitz is the only candidate who is fully vetted, battle-tested, proven, and ready to be Attorney General.”

Reitz and Roy’s careers working for prominent Texas Republicans have mirrored each other in numerous ways.

Roy was the first top aide tapped by both Cruz and Paxton in their current roles. He served as Cruz’s first chief of staff from 2012 through 2014, helping pioneer Cruz’s strategy during the 2013 government shutdown over Obamacare, and then was hired by Paxton as the newly elected attorney general’s first assistant attorney general.

Roy held that position as Paxton’s second in command through early 2016, at which point Roy left after Paxton incited a dramatic staff shake-up in the wake of the embattled attorney general’s first legal troubles. Roy went on to be elected to Congress in a Central Texas district in 2018, a position he has held ever since.

Reitz’s career played out in the reverse order. He was Paxton’s deputy attorney general for legal affairs from 2020 to 2023 before leaving to be Cruz’s chief of staff through early 2025. He then went on to a short stint at the Department of Justice this year before resigning to announce his run for attorney general.

Cruz, a former Texas solicitor general under then-Attorney General Greg Abbott, endorsed Roy on Saturday. While noting that Texas is “blessed” to have a strong slate of conservatives running for the position and that he is friends with each candidate, Cruz said he has known Roy for nearly two decades and, during that time, Roy has consistently displayed the “courage, integrity and conviction” required to be attorney general.

“As my very first chief of staff, Chip has been a close friend and ally of mine for over 12 years,” Cruz said in a statement. “We have been in more fights together than I can count, and I know Chip will always, always, always fight for conservative values.”

Both Cruz and Paxton had previously been letting the attorney general race, the first prominent statewide seat to open up for Texas Republicans in years, play out without weighing in. But Roy’s entry into the race Thursday appears to have upended both men’s calculations.

Roy received further endorsements from some of Congress’ most conservative members, including a fellow Texan, Rep. Keith Self of McKinney. He also won the backing of Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, Byron Donalds, R-Florida, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

State Sens. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston and Joan Huffman, R-Houston are also running to succeed Paxton. Paxton is forgoing running for a fourth term to instead challenge Sen. John Cornyn in a primary.

Both Reitz and Roy have positioned themselves as the ideological heirs to Paxton’s conservative legal movement, which has put Texas at the forefront of high-profile cases on religious liberty, abortion and election law.

Calling himself the “only pro-Paxton candidate in the race”, Reitz pledged to continue his old boss’ fights.

“Under Ken Paxton, Texas has been a shining example for the conservative movement on how to fight and win against the enemies of Law, Order, and Liberty,” Reitz said in a statement. “My promise to Texans is that I will keep my foot on the gas and energetically carry on Paxton’s legacy.”

Though Paxton and Roy have split over the former’s conduct, Roy said in an interview with conservative radio host Mark Davis Thursday that the two share a similar conservative worldview.

"Ken and his team have done a great job fighting to defend Texas," Roy said in the radio interview. "We’re going to continue that legacy going forward.”

---

More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.