Ken Paxton defeats Rochelle Garza in Texas attorney general race

The charmed political life of Attorney General Ken Paxton was given another boost as a solid majority of Texas voters supported a third term for the high-profile Republican despite legal troubles that include criminal indictments and an FBI investigation into allegations of misuse of office.

Paxton reveled in his victory over Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza, telling supporters Tuesday night that "reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" and promising to continue a parade of lawsuits aimed at derailing the policies of President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

Garza had hoped the GOP incumbent's legal troubles would erode his support, but Paxton prevailed with a campaign that focused on an aggressive appeal to conservative Republicans in his bid for another four-year term.

"Just because we won tonight, the fight is not over," Paxton told supporters in Collin County, according to the Texas Tribune. "They’re going to continue to come after me, they’re going to continue to come after Texas. They’re going to continue to come after Republicans around the country, and we cannot let them win."

Paxton's appeal paid off Tuesday night as he held about a 10-point lead over Garza with most votes counted, although his margin of victory was narrower than other Republicans running for statewide office.

In a statement to supporters, Garza vowed to continue fighting for reproductive and civil rights.

"Although these aren’t the results we hoped for, I know that together we will be at the forefront of change," Garza said. "Texas, you have made me so proud, and you have made me so hopeful. The fight continues, and I will be here with you every step of the way."

The race for attorney general, the state's top legal officer, took a particularly negative tone in the closing weeks.

Paxton ads portrayed Garza as soft on border security, calling her a liberal extremist who was "the most radical politician ever nominated by a major party in Texas."

Garza counterpunched by painting Paxton as a conservative extremist on abortion rights and unfit for office because of his legal troubles, "corruption and incompetence."

Paxton was indicted in 2015 for felony securities fraud tied to private business deals in 2011, with trial dates postponed by a series of appeals by defense lawyers and prosecutors. And Paxton has been under investigation by the FBI since 2020, when eight top executives in the attorney general's office accused him of misusing his office to help a friend and benefactor. Paxton has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

He also has been sued by a State Bar of Texas disciplinary committee, which accused Paxton of violating state ethical standards that prohibit lawyers from acting with dishonesty, fraud and deceit when he told the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas had proof of widespread election fraud in an unsuccessful bid to overturn Biden's 2020 election victories in four swing states.

The Democrat's campaign, however, was swamped by Paxton's fundraising totals, which allowed the incumbent to air negative campaign ads that Garza had trouble matching.

Garza jumped to an early lead, raising $518,000 in the six weeks after the May primary runoffs to Paxton's $340,000. In the time since, however, Paxton added almost $4.5 million to his campaign's bank account, while Garza raised an additional $2.7 million — a healthy number, but not enough to introduce Texas voters to a first-time candidate taking on an eight-year incumbent with 12 years of experience in the Legislature.

In late October, the race for attorney general took an interesting turn when Mark Ash, the Libertarian Party candidate for attorney general, took the unusual step of endorsing Garza, calling Paxton "the poster child for corruption and authoritarianism" and saying the stakes were too high to remain as an electoral option for Texas voters.

Ash, however, remained on the ballot and received almost 3% of the vote.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas election results: Ken Paxton defeats Rochelle Garza