Several firebrand conservatives are set to duke it out in what promises to be a particularly explosive debate ahead of the GOP primary election for Texas attorney general.

The debate will be held at the famed Granada Theater in Dallas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central Time. It will be hosted by the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and moderated by conservative podcaster and Texas native Allie Beth Stuckey. Fox News Digital will stream the debate.

With early voting having already started, the Lone Star State is in the midst of a highly contentious primary election season.

Four Republicans are gunning for the role of Texas’ top attorney, a slot that is being vacated by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate. In the running are Congressman Chip Roy, R-Texas, who is running on a limited government platform, Aaron Reitz, a former Trump Department of Justice official and assistant attorney general under Paxton, state Sen. Mayes Middleton, an oil executive running on an America first platform, and state Sen. Joan Huffman, who has emphasized respect for the rule of law in her campaign.

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As a fourth-term congressman, Roy has the most time in the national spotlight. A member of the House Freedom Caucus, he has at times found himself at odds with President Donald Trump and the GOP establishment.

On Dec. 19, 2024, amid a high-stakes standoff over government funding and the federal debt ceiling, Trump railed against Roy in a Truth Social post in which he called him one of several “Republican obstructionists” who he said, “Have to be done away with.”

Both Reitz and Middleton, who have positioned themselves as the Trump loyalists in the race, have used this line of attack against him. Reitz has accused Roy of being “belligerently anti-Trump” and a party antagonizer, while Middleton has echoed the obstructionist theme.

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Stuckey has said the debate questions will focus on the national legal battles the Texas attorney general must lead regarding the border and constitutional rights. In an X post, she said that her team and RAGA have been working to make sure that “every single question is not only relevant to Texas voters but also to Americans as a whole.”

She promised a “fiery, fun and informative night.”

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Addressing the debate, RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper said in a statement that the Texas attorney general “plays a critical role locally and nationally from protecting Texans to promoting the rule of law and preserving freedom for future generations.”

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Piper said that “RAGA looks forward to providing Texans the opportunity to hear all four Attorneys General candidates answer questions on the important issues facing the state.”

A federal judge on Tuesday declared a mistrial in the case of nine alleged Antifia members charged in connection with the ambush shooting of a police officer at a Texas U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center over a T-shirt worn by one of the defense attorneys. 

 U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman cited the shirt worn by attorney MarQuetta Clayton under a blazer, which depicted civil rights icons. Clayton, who is defending Maricela Rueda, apparently wore the shirt during jury selection. 

“I don’t know why in the world you would think that’s appropriate,” Pittman told Clayton, the Texas Standard reported. 

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Pittman learned of the shirt, which featured images of Shirley Chisholm and Martin Luther King Jr., after Clayton had asked questions of the panel for 22 minutes, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. 

“This has to be a first in the history of American jurisprudence, I would think,” Pittman said. “I’m left with no other choice.”

The other defense attorneys opposed a mistrial. The judge said he would schedule a show-cause hearing in which Clayton will have to explain why she should not be sanctioned, according to the newspaper. 

Jury selection began Tuesday with 75 potential jurors. A pool of 130 jurors will be brought in next Tuesday to start the process again, Pittman said. 

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Around 20 potential jurors said they opposed ICE efforts to combat illegal immigration. 

“We’re a family of immigrants,” one potential juror reportedly said.

The nine defendants are accused of participating in an alleged ambush at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center on July 4, 2025.

The defendants ignited fireworks and damaged buildings and vehicles before firing on federal officers, federal prosecutors said. An Alvarado police officer responding to a 911 call was shot in the neck and survived.

Prosecutors said the attack was orchestrated by members of what they describe as a North Texas Antifa cell. The defendants have denied wrongdoing.

TUCSON, Ariz. – An Arizona gun store owner says an FBI agent asked him to review recent firearm purchases tied to a list of nearly two dozen people, as the search for Nancy Guthrie continues into a third week.

Phillip Martin, co-owner of Armor Bearer Arms in Tucson, told Fox News’ Amalia Roy that an FBI agent visited his store with three pages of approximately 18 to 24 individuals with corresponding photos and names.

The agent, Martin said, asked to check whether any of those people had purchased a firearm from his store within the past year.

“He actually had given me a list of paper, list of people that had pictures and names on it, and he wanted to know if I could help him pull up in my system if any of these people have purchased a gun in the last year,” Martin said.

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Martin said he initially questioned the request but ultimately agreed to help out of concern for Guthrie’s family.

“I felt bad for the family. Anything that could help them find the person I was willing to help,” he said.

Martin said he entered each last name into his store’s electronic records system, which would display identifying information if the individual had made a purchase. He said none of the names returned a match for firearm purchases within the past year.

According to Martin, the agent told him investigators planned to visit additional gun stores to determine whether anyone on the list had recently bought a weapon.

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On Tuesday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos disputed reports that authorities have narrowed the suspect pool to a few dozen individuals. During an interview with Fox News’ Jonathan Hunt, Nanos denied that investigators had focused on a specific group.

“That’s not true,” Nanos said when asked whether authorities had identified around 40 people as potential suspects.

“We haven’t narrowed it down to anything other than we have pieces of evidence that we’re looking at to try to find this individual,” Nanos said.

Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:

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Jan. 31, 2026

• Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. – Family drops Nancy off at home

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• 9:50 p.m. – Garage door closes (per authorities)

Feb. 1, 2026

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• 1:47 a.m. – Doorbell camera disconnects

• 2:12 a.m. – Security camera detects motion

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• 2:28 a.m. – Pacemaker disconnects from phone application

• 11:56 a.m. – Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering

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• 12:03 p.m. — 911 called

• 12:15 p.m. — Sheriff’s deputies arrive at home

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.