State Sen. Joan Huffman told East Texas Republicans on Monday that she is the “law and order candidate” for the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
“My passion is to represent Texans and to make Texas the safest, most secure and a great place to live in, raise your family and for businesses to thrive,” she said. “I’ve always served with integrity.”
Huffman, R-Houston, spoke Monday at the Republican Party of Gregg County headquarters in Longview. She said her lengthy career in the legal field and her nearly two decades of legislative experience make her the best candidate for the state’s top law enforcement position.
With the March 3 primary election three months away, candidates for statewide offices already are getting their messages out to voters. Huffman is in a crowded field of GOP candidates running to replace incumbent Ken Paxton, who is running for John Cornyn’s U.S. Senate seat.
Other Republican candidates include U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, state Sen. Mayes Middleton and Paxton aide Aaron Reitz. Democrats running for the office include state Sen. Nathan Johnson, former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski and lawyer Tony Box.
Huffman started her legal career in 1981 as a secretary in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. She went to the South Texas College of Law and served as a Harris County prosecutor for 14 years. She was the chief felony gang prosecutor and tried more than 100 jury trial cases, including death penalty cases.
Huffman also was a district court judge before she was elected to the Texas Senate in 2008. She’s been the chair of the Senate State Affairs, Redistricting and Finance committees, which made her the state’s lead budget writer.
Criminal justice has been her longtime passion, and she has promoted legislation to increase penalties for the worst criminal offenders, she said. Huffman also has been a leading advocate for bail reform, a priority of Gov. Greg Abbott.
“We now can hold the most violent offenders without bond if the judge deems that it’s the appropriate thing to do with the evidence that’s presented,” she said.
As attorney general, Huffman said she’ll work to reestablish trust between local prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and the state attorney general’s office. Few lawyers in the AG’s office are assigned to work on law enforcement issues, Huffman said.
“As we try to increase the attorney general’s powers for election laws, even human trafficking … to give the AG more power, there was, a lot of times, pushback from district attorneys because they’re sort of like, ‘You’re stepping on our toes,’” Huffman said. “So, what I would like to do is rebuild that trust.”
She said she’d like to see more inter-agency task forces work together to combat human trafficking, cyber crimes, fentanyl and more.
“I don’t think the focus has been on that so much with Paxton or really even Abbott before him (as AG),” Huffman said.
Huffman said she supports parents’ rights in education, which Texas voters reaffirmed in November through the passage of a constitutional amendment.
Huffman said she does not support Sharia law, the Islamic moral and legal code, which is banned in Texas. Controversy surrounding plans for Islamic population centers such as EPIC City in North Texas has drawn attention to Sharia law, which many conservatives say does not align with traditional western, Judeo-Christian values that form the basis of the nation’s legal system. Huffman in 2019 was one of the lawmakers who worked to ban Sharia law from being followed in family court, she said.
“Some constituents in Fort Bend had come to me concerned because they had some examples of instances where women had sort of been forced to accept certain prenuptial agreements and things like that, that sort of looked like they were Sharia law,” Huffman said.
People who come to America need to share American values and abide by the nation’s legal system, Huffman said.
She also said the Texas Legislature has made progress in allowing “rogue” prosecutors and judges to be removed from office. Residents can file complaints against prosecutors and judges, and judges who flagrantly violate laws such as new bail reform requirements can be sanctioned, including suspension without pay, Huffman said.
“As an attorney general, part of what you have to do is work with the local community, work with the local citizens,” she said.
Huffman said she is a strong advocate for private property rights and doesn’t believe the state, nation or industries should be able to take someone’s personal property except in “extreme situations where it’s life or death,” she said.
“I would fight very, very hard to defend people’s personal, private property rights,” she said.
Huffman said the AG’s office has a role to play in fighting overreach by the federal government, “woke corporations” and those responsible for the opioid epidemic, and she said Paxton has done a good of that.
“Those types of things are very important, but I think it’s also important and equally important to kind of turn our face towards Texans and … work closer with local district attorneys, local law enforcement, to enhance their ability to serve people in their community,” she said.
“People sometimes ask why I’m running,” Huffman said. “I love this state. I care about what I do. I genuinely believe I’m the most qualified. … There’s never been an AG who’s been a former prosecutor with significant litigation and criminal justice experience. Never been a former criminal district court judge. Never been a conservative senator who served on all the major committees.”
