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Texas AG race turns personal as Mayes Middleton, Chip Roy clash
NEW BRAUNFELS — State Sen. Mayes Middleton and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy are running nearly identical conservative campaigns for attorney general. Then they start talking about each other.
That’s when the race turns deeply personal, with both Republicans arguing the other cannot be trusted.
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On the campaign trail, when Middleton and Roy are not attacking each other, their stump speeches sound almost interchangeable.
They vow to oppose Sharia, fight for President Donald Trump’s agenda, challenge progressive district attorneys and uphold Christianity as central to Texas and American values.
But when they do talk about each other, which is often, the tenor of the campaign turns a different shade of red.
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“I’ve never seen a nastier campaign,” Roy said Wednesday at a get-out-the-vote event in New Braunfels, accusing Middleton of smear tactics.
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Middleton struck a similar note in an interview with The Dallas Morning News, saying Roy has been “lying about me.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s election, the candidates have continued trashing each other in closing pitches on why they should replace Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Middleton has portrayed Roy as disloyal to Trump and the MAGA movement. Roy has cast Middleton as unqualified and trying to buy the office.
The exchanges have fed a barrage of negative ads on TV and digital platforms.
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Even some supporters have grown weary of the relentless mudslinging.
After a Middleton speech Thursday outside Austin, Lakeway resident Gretchen Nearburg said she supports him “100%” but worries the campaign has “gotten down and dirty.”
She said the Republican infighting could depress turnout in November. “The Democrats could easily take some races because of that,” she said.
The concerns have crossed campaign lines.
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A day earlier, Robert Phillips, a volunteer with the Comal County Republican Party, said the race had turned too ugly.
“This is absolutely one of the dirtiest campaigns I have ever seen,” he said at a Roy campaign event at a barbecue restaurant outside San Antonio.
“I don’t think people realize how serious that is. It shouldn’t have gone this far,” he said.
Bitter fight
With turnout expected to be low Tuesday, neither campaign appears ready to cool the increasingly bitter feud as they try to energize supporters.
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At stake is the inside track to become the next head of the attorney general’s office, which represents Texas in civil lawsuits, enforces child support laws and oversees open government protections. Under Paxton’s tenure, it has become deeply involved lawsuits tied to conservative causes.
Middleton, of Galveston, finished first in the four-candidate primary in March with 39% of the vote to Roy’s 32%.
Middleton repeatedly has targeted Roy over breaks with Trump, including after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, when Roy said Trump likely committed “impeachable conduct.”
“This is just judgment we cannot trust,” Middleton said at his Lakeway event.
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He also said that after Trump’s election loss in 2020, Roy “fought to certify a stolen election on the House floor. Now, he wants to run the election integrity division. I don’t think so.”
Roy, of Austin, said his disagreements with Trump show independence.
He has gone on to target Middleton’s limited legal background, calling him a “trust fund kid” using an inherited oil business fortune to buy his way into office.
Middleton has said his business experience matters more than time in the courtroom.
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In recent weeks, Roy also has zeroed in on a bill Middleton sponsored in 2025 that would have extended land use exemptions to religious institutions, including mosques.
“That’s a naive lawyer who doesn’t understand the dynamic of what we’re dealing with,” Roy said. “We’re at war.”
Middleton said Roy mischaracterized the failed bill, which he said was filed after Christian groups asked him for help building housing projects.
Mixed endorsements
As the race winds down, Middleton has pointed to audio of Paxton saying he planned to vote for him over Roy. Paxton’s campaign later declined comment.
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“What it shows is that MAGA is united behind me,” Middleton said in an interview.
Roy brushed off Paxton’s comments, noting the attorney general still had not made an official endorsement. Roy instead has touted his support from Sen. Ted Cruz.
“At the end of the day, we are taking our message to the people,” Roy said.
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Democrats Joe Jaworski, a former Galveston mayor, and Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson are battling for their party’s nomination, a race that has drawn only a fraction of the money and attention consumed by the Republicans. Democrats have not held the AG’s post in more than 25 years.