Ken Paxton Beats Dan Branch in Texas Republican AG Runoff

AUSTIN, Texas–State Senator Ken Paxton has won against State Rep. Dan Branch in the Texas Republican Primary runoff for Attorney General. Paxton, the Tea Party candidate, endured almost relentless attacks from Branch, left-of-center media outlets in Texas, and other liberals. Even a prominent attorney who works with Tea Party groups got involved to attack him.

Paxton will now face Democrat Sam Houston, a 26-year lawyer, in November. Both will strive to replace the current Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate, Greg Abbott. 

Paxton was previously endorsed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz who said, “Ken Paxton is a tireless conservative warrior. Ken Paxton stands and fights, whether it’s against Obamacare, whether it’s fighting for Voter I.D., or whether it’s fighting to defend our religious liberty. And I’m proud to say Ken Paxton is my friend in fighting hard for the State of Texas.”

Branch is a former AFL-CIO union group lobbyist who was criticized in the past for introducing an amendment to a bill that could have loosened Texas’ rules regarding late-term abortions. 

Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby has been closely following Paxton’s road to victory. 

Darby recently reported on the constant assaults launched on Paxton by the Branch camp and various media outlets. “The Branch campaign began a series of attacks on Paxton that focused on previous administrative paperwork issues by Paxton,” Darby wrote. “The attacks grew as left-of-center Texas media outlets and a Democratic trial lawyer began hammering Paxton for several issues, including Paxton having failed to disclose his position on the boards of several groups. The attacks largely fell short once the public learned the ‘undisclosed groups’ included nonprofits that Paxton helped start that aided abused women, children, Alzheimer’s patients, and people who could not afford their own Bibles.”

Clearly, such attacks backfired. 

The Statesman reported that Paxton received 44.5 percent of the vote, while Branch only received 33.5 percent. 

Following his win, Paxton reportedly said in a statement, “I’m very appreciative of the strong support of the voters today. I feel very strong about the upcoming November election and look forward to following one of the state’s great attorneys general, Greg Abbott.”