The four-way Republican primary drew millions in donations over the second half of 2025, outpacing the comparatively meager fundraising by Democrats led by Sen. Nathan Johnson.
Get ready to see a lot more of the Republican candidates for Texas attorney general. The leading contenders all have significant money in the bank, with state Sen. Mayes Middleton and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy leading the pack.
It’s the first open primary for Texas’ top lawyer in more than a decade, as four Republicans vie to replace Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is forgoing reelection to challenge GOP Sen. John Cornyn.
Middleton, a Republican from Galveston, stands alone with $11.8 million raised during the last six months of last year — but more than 90% of that comes from himself, rather than individual donors, as the oil and gas executive is proudly self-supporting his campaign. Middleton is burning through that money, spending $6 million on mailers and ad buys, but he still has $5 million in the bank, according to his campaign finance report filed with the Texas Ethics Commission this week.
Middleton’s largest donor other than himself was William Oberndorf, a California billionaire who supports school vouchers, who gave him $50,000.
Roy, an Austin Republican who so far is polling as the frontrunner, has $4.2 million in the bank, fueled by a $2 million transfer from his congressional campaign. That made up nearly half of the $4.5 million he took in from July through December. His campaign noted that 85% of the donations from the period were amounts less than $100.
Roy also garnered $250,000 each from Douglas Scharbauer, a Midland rancher and horse breeder who has also been a major Paxton donor over the years, Houston investor Robert “Hank” Seale, and the Texas Republican Leadership Fund, a political action committee started by Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly.
The dark horse in fundraising is Aaron Reitz, a former Department of Justice official and right-hand man to Paxton, who has endorsed Reitz to succeed him. While the other candidates had reserves from previous campaigns, Reitz, a relative political newcomer, raised the entirety of the $3 million he has in the bank since launching his campaign in June.
Despite having less cash on hand than Middleton and Roy, Reitz touted that he has received more individual donations than the other candidates combined. He brought in just two donations over $100,000, from Houston media executive Jonathan Knutz and Austin energy executive Matthew Calhoun.
“This is a true grassroots campaign powered by the People,” Reitz said in a statement. “Texans want a Paxton-endorsed, Trump-trusted champion who has spent his career leading legal troops into legal combat to deliver legal victories for our state, our nation, and conservative Republican values.”
State Sen. Joan Huffman, a Republican from Houston, trails the other three candidates in both new donations and cash on hand. One of the longest-serving members of the state Senate, Huffman is a former prosecutor and judge who is running as a law-and-order candidate. She brought in donations from longtime Republican donors, like Ross Perot Jr., who are seen as members of the establishment old guard in an increasingly right-leaning party.
The GOP candidates easily outpaced the fundraising reported on the Democratic side. State Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas led the three-person field, raising about $650,000 during the filing period, bringing him to $750,000 cash on hand. Former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, who unsuccessfully ran for the nomination in 2022, raised almost $220,000 and had $250,000 in the bank, while Dallas attorney and first-time candidate Tony Box raised $137,000 and reported nearly $28,000 cash on hand.
A December poll from Texas Southern University showed Johnson and Jaworski in a statistical tie, with 57% of Democratic voters unsure of who they would be voting for and the vast majority saying they needed to know more about the candidates to decide.
Source: Eleanor Klibanoff,
Photo Credit: State Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, speaks at a press conference after a Senate committee hearing at the Texas Capitol in Austin on Aug. 4, 2025. Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune
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