In the race for Texas Attorney General, Mayes Middleton should answer to the Texans he hopes to represent.
AUSTIN, Texas — Today, Nathan Johnson, the Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General, accepted Spectrum News 1’s invitation to a televised debate with Republican nominee Mayes Middleton in Austin, and called on Middleton to join him on the stage.
The debate would carry across the Spectrum News station group, making it the only statewide televised forum either candidate has firmly been offered so far in the race to lead the Texas Office of Attorney General.
“I think it’s important that voters have the opportunity to see and assess the candidates directly, rather than just through the dishonest campaign advertising my opponent will be serving up. They should hear how each of the candidates will address the questions that actually concern this office: how will the Attorney General combat political corruption, protect them from predatory business practices, address growing threats from AI, work with law enforcement to promote public safety, who enforces the rule of law, who answers for a decade of enforcement and regulation steered away from political friends, and who Texans call when a company cheats them,” said Johnson. “The Attorney General represents 31 million Texans, not one party and not one movement. Any candidate asking for that job should be willing to spend an hour explaining how he would enforce the law without checking the party registration of the person on the other side of it.”
Johnson has run on returning the office to the two functions it exists to perform: enforcing the law without regard to who benefits, and protecting Texans from businesses that cheat them. He has published two plans to that end, neither of which Middleton has answered:
Catching Up To Yesterday, his first-30-days AI plan, orders an audit of Texas consumer protection, fair competition, and employment law against what AI already does in the marketplace, then reports to the Legislature where the statutes fall short. The Attorney General holds sole enforcement authority over the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act, which took effect January 1 and carries civil penalties reaching $200,000 for companies that refuse to correct a violation.
That’s My Lawyer, his anti-corruption plan, calls for bid-rigging enforcement in state contracting, conflict-of-interest review at state agencies, whistleblower protections inside the office itself, and scrutiny of the state broadband awards routed to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The onus is now on Mayes Middleton to agree to debate and put his record, policies, and vision in front of Texas voters.
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