Indicted. Under F.B.I. Investigation. And Still Popular With Texas Republicans.

There have been indicators that Mr. Paxton’s litany of controversies has examined the boundaries of Texas Republicans’ endurance with him. Consultant Chip Roy, a conservative who used to work for Mr. Paxton, known as for his resignation in 2020. Together with Mr. Bush, Mr. Paxton’s major challengers included Consultant Louie Gohmert, who gave up a secure East Texas congressional seat to run in opposition to him, and Eva Guzman, who resigned from the Texas Supreme Courtroom to problem him within the major.

Throughout his marketing campaign, Mr. Gohmert predicted Mr. Paxton would face a brand new federal indictment after profitable the Republican nomination and lose the final election to a Democrat. If Mr. Paxton certainly wins the nomination however is defeated in November, it will be a devastating first for Republicans: No Democrat has gained any statewide workplace in Texas since 1994.

Within the Democratic major for lawyer basic, Rochelle Garza, a South Texas civil rights lawyer, garnered essentially the most votes and is headed for a runoff. Her Democratic opponent remained unclear. The third-place vote-getter, Lee Merritt, a civil rights lawyer, mentioned in a press release he was not able to concede to the second-place candidate, Joe Jaworski, a former mayor of Galveston, as a result of navy and different ballots had been nonetheless being counted. Ms. Garza mentioned she was assured the lawyer basic’s workplace might be flipped from pink to blue. In 2018, Mr. Paxton gained re-election by narrowly defeating his opponent, Justin Nelson, by 3.56 proportion factors.

Mr. Paxton has disregarded any suggestion of a Democratic victory within the fall. “On this nation, allegations don’t convict you,” he mentioned within the Lubbock radio interview.

Mr. Paxton’s aides mentioned Texas Republicans don’t care concerning the allegations and controversies surrounding his workplace. They claimed credit score for attacking Mr. Gohmert and Ms. Guzman to be able to enable Mr. Bush to advance to the runoff. After the Paxton marketing campaign attacked Ms. Guzman in tv ads within the closing days earlier than the first, she dropped from profitable 21 p.c of the vote throughout the early-voting interval to simply 14 p.c of the vote on Tuesday.

“These adverts clearly value Eva a spot within the runoff,” Dick Weekley, the senior chairman of the mainstream Republican group Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which endorsed Ms. Guzman, wrote in an e mail to supporters after the first.

Each Mr. Paxton and Mr. Bush are sure to proceed to pitch themselves because the true steward for Trump supporters amongst Texas Republicans.