Certainly makes that primary more interesting.
Eva Guzman
Eva Guzman, the former justice on the Texas Supreme Court, has filed paperwork to run for state attorney general.
On Friday, Guzman, a Republican, filed what is known as a campaign treasurer appointment form with the Texas Ethics Commission, saying she is seeking the office of attorney general, according to a copy of the form obtained by The Texas Tribune. Her treasurer is Orlando Salazar of Dallas, the vice chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.
“Eva Guzman has served Texas for over 22 years honorably,” Guzman’s political consultant, Justin Dudley, said in a statement to the Tribune. “She looks forward to putting her experience and know-how to work in a new role. The campaign will have a formal announcement soon.”
[…]
A Guzman run would complicate the Republican primary already underway between incumbent Ken Paxton and Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Bush announced his campaign for attorney general on June 2, sharply criticizing Paxton over his legal troubles. The attorney general has been fighting securities fraud charges for most of his time in office, and he more recently came under FBI investigation for claims he abused his office to help a wealthy donor. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.
It remains to be seen if Guzman’s candidacy would change former President Donald Trump’s plans to get involved in the primary. Before Bush launched his challenge to Paxton, Trump issued a statement saying he likes “them both very much” and that he would make an endorsement “in the not-so-distant future.”
See here for the background. As you know, I doubt Guzman’s viability in a primary that features two prominent Trump humpers, but we’ll see if I’m right about that. Guzman does have the benefit of not being either a crook or a dilettante, and in a normal meritocratic world that would be a big asset. In a 2022 Republican primary in Texas, that remains to be seen.
For what it’s worth, of the three candidates Paxton has probably had the hardest primary race, when he first ran for AG in 2014 and faced Dan Branch and Barry Smitherman for the nomination, eventually beating Branch in a runoff. He was unopposed in the 2018 primary. Guzman easily dispatched Rose Vela in 2010, and had a closer race in 2016 against a Some Dude named Joe Pool, who had a previous Supreme Court primary challenge to incumbent Jeff Brown in 2014, and finished third in 2012 against John Devine and David Medina. I don’t get the sense that either of those races was particularly taxing, but they were both contested. Bush had a token opponent (I will give you one dollar right now if you can name this person without looking it up), and thus has had the easiest path. Don’t know if any of this previous experience matters – whatever else one may say, we’re in a different environment now – but there it is.
Col Jerry Patterson, former State Senator and former GLO Commissioner
Honest, public servant, female, Hispanic….certainly doesn’t fit the Republican profile.
I’ll stick with Paxton, thanks.
Why Paxton, Bill? He wastes huge amounts of tax dollars on pointless lawsuits with no chance of victory, treats employees like crap, and has no respect for the law. He is ineffective in his position, and has an aura of it being all about him, not the best interests of the state.
Ross,
Lawfare works both ways. Remember when Trump was relentlessly sued for every little thing? Oh, Trump got two scoops of ice cream? Lawsuit. I don’t recall you being upset when lawfare was used against Trump. I’m very happy Paxton is using lawfare against Biden. Abbott did the same thing when he was AG, and it worked out well for Abbott.
Bill, lawfare was never used against Trump. Paxton keeps wasting tax dollars on his ridiculous follies, none of which succeed. We need a return to the days when the AG operated in the best interests of the state, and made sure child support was collected and paid.
Ross,
That’s just not true. I challenge you to name ONE Trump policy that didn’t draw a lawsuit, or more likely, multiple lawsuits. DAPA and KeystoneXL? Lawsuits. Keeping Muslim terrorists out of the US? Lawsuits. Building the wall? Lawsuits. Booting illegals at the border, ending catch and release? Lawsuits. Tariffs on China? Lawsuits.
Ken Paxton is doing his job, protecting Texans from the actions of the federal government. He’s the people’s champion. And yes, the AG’s office still collects child support. Has he won all of his suits? No. But he’s trying. He tried to protect the thousands of Texas jobs lost by Biden killing KeystoneXL, for example. He also successfully stopped Biden’s ‘100 day moratorium on deportations,’ for example. How many Texas lives did Paxton save with just that one successful suit?
I’d prefer that over an AG that stands down and says, “yes, hit us again, and next time put some power on it and make it really hurt Texans.”
Bill, there is not one suit filed by Paxton I thought was reasonable. Any suits against Trump were, by definition, reasonable, since he never followed actual law but pulled shit out of his ass. Trump always forgot he was no longer running his own business and had to follow laws and defined procedures. That was a big issue identified by Rex Tillerson, where he supported a Trump policy, but not the illegal methods used for implementation.
Paxton should be disbarred for attempting to interfere in the elections of other states. He has no standing to file those suits, and knew that.
None of the suits filed by Paxton were to protect Texans. They were, and are, designed to further his personal political goals.
Biden has absolute power to kill Keystone, like it or not.