Political newcomer Rochelle Garza is hoping to knock two-term Ken Paxton out of position.
HOUSTON — It’s Election Day and the Texas Attorney General’s seat is up for grabs. Political newcomer Rochelle Garza is hoping to knock two-term Ken Paxton out of his position, but the battle has proven to be a challenge.
Who is Ken Paxton?
Republican Paxton is hoping to hold on to his seat as Texas attorney general as his Democratic opponent, Garza, fights to unseat him. She would be the first Democrat in the position in decades.
As the state’s top attorney, Paxton’s first major initiative was forming a special unit dedicated to combating human trafficking in Texas. During its first year of existence, the Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime section helped arrest the chief executive officer of Backpage.com and helped shut down the largest online sex-trafficking marketplace in the United States, the AG website says .
Paxton’s time in office, however, has been haunted by accusations of illegal or unethical behavior. He’s been under indictment for alleged securities fraud. More recently, the FBI began investigating him for abuse of office after eight of his former top deputies accused him of bribery.
Paxton has retained his seat for more than seven years after being elected for a second term in 2018. He has denied wrongdoing and dismissed the charges as politically motivated as he runs for a third term.
Who is Rochelle Garza?
As a newcomer to Texas politics, Garza has faced an uphill battle in her efforts to unseat Paxton.
She’s an underdog who’s underfunded, but recent polls showed Garza is within single digits of Paxton, the Texas Tribune reported.
“I keep telling folks this is our race to lose,” Garza said in early October. “This is the closest we have come in almost 30 years and it’s time we elect a Democrat to this office.”