Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson says rebuilding office staff comes first

Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson says his first job in January will be rebuilding the staff of the office he won in Tuesday's election, followed by a review of the litigation and investigations he inherits from Ken Paxton.

Johnson, a Democratic state senator from Dallas, defeated Republican state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston. With 99% of precincts reporting, Johnson had 5,134,804 votes, or 52%, to Middleton's 4,503,283, or 46%, according to returns published by KPRC Click2Houston. Libertarian Tom Oxford received 165,606 votes.

CBS News Texas put the split at 52.4% to 45.9%. The results are unofficial until the statewide canvass. Johnson is the first Democrat elected attorney general since 1994, according to The Texas Tribune.

Middleton concedes

Middleton announced on social media Wednesday morning that he had phoned Johnson the night before. "This was not the outcome we wanted but I called Nathan Johnson last night to concede and wish him well," he wrote.

He thanked supporters who stood with him "in the fight for conservative values" and added, "Even though we are disappointed in the election we must never root for Texas to fail."

During the campaign Middleton promised to "use every resource and tool to back up the president," the Tribune reported.

Johnson's plans

In a post-election interview with Jack Fink, political reporter for CBS News Texas, Johnson said he expected a win of two or three points, "not six or seven." He described his message as "a return to respect for the rule of law."

He said the office had too often been used for partisan fights and that he wants it to concentrate on corruption, consumer protection, competitive markets, child support and public finance. "My number one priority is rebuilding the office," he said, adding that the agency is short of its allocated payroll.

On Paxton's pending cases, Johnson said "some of it's meritorious, some of it isn't," and that he plans to "clear out the political nonsense." He also wants to review laws covering employment, competition and consumer protection to make sure they keep pace with technology.

Asked about federal policy, Johnson said he did not want to announce day-one lawsuits. He named one area he will examine: whether the federal Medicaid administrator has legal authority to cut more of the Medicaid money sent to states. If not, he said, "I would be challenging the federal government."

Johnson said he has more than 100 bills from his Senate work that he plans to hand to other legislators, including measures on housing, recycling and THC. On THC, he said he favors strict regulation and enforcement rather than a ban.

He takes office in January.

Sources

CBS News

click2houston.com

The Texas Tribune