State Sen. Mayes Middleton told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday he’s the true MAGA candidate on the ballot for Texas Attorney General.
In the the upcoming Republican primary runoff election for attorney general, Middleton — who received about 39% of the vote in the four-person Republican primary — faces Congressman Chip Roy, who got about 32% of the primary vote.
Middleton pointed to Roy's past criticism of President Donald Trump during his speech at the conservative conference in Grapevine.
“Our voters are just not going to forgive someone that has spent 10 years fighting against the president like Chip Roy has,” Middleton said. “He actually said that President Trump needed to be impeached.”
Roy previously said in a press release that Trump’s conduct during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during President Joe Biden’s inauguration was “clearly impeachable” but called the Democrats’ articles of impeachment flawed.
KERA reached out to Roy for comment and will update this story with any response.
Middleton, who at the CPAC event touted his conservative record on transgender issues and his Christian faith, said he’s the candidate who can be counted on to support the president.
“We need someone in that office like me who will use every resource and tool to back up President Trump and his America First agenda, and that is exactly what I will do,” Middleton said.
Roy told the Texas Tribune ahead of the primary election the state needs an attorney general who's independent, not blindly loyal to the president.
“You need somebody who’s demonstrated strength and independence,” he said. “We’ve got to defend the state of Texas, defend our borders, defend our streets, keep it safe and defend ourselves against the federal government interfering with us, no matter who’s there.”
Voter turnout for runoff elections tends to be low and more ideologically extreme, said University of Texas at Dallas political science professor Thomas Gray.
That, Gray says, favors Middleton, who he sees as the more right-wing candidate.
“If you do get this selection down towards the most passionate, animated voters, that's probably going to benefit him,” he said.
The runoff election is scheduled for May 26.
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