On November 4, 2014, when the 51-year-old Ken Paxton was triumphantly elected Attorney General of Texas, defeating his Democrat opponent, the euphoniously named Sam Houston, by over 20 percentage points, the conservative movement in the Lone Star State had a new rising star. Paxton’s enemies were worried; the Tea Party favorite, an impressive University of Virginia law school graduate, seemed bound for the Governor’s mansion, a prospect that made the state’s centrist GOP Establishment aghast. Paxton’s political career had been nothing short of meteoric. First elected to public office in 2002 with the support of grass-roots activists and evangelicals, Paxton represented his suburban Dallas district in the Texas House of Representatives for a decade before winning a coveted promotion to the exclusive 31-member Texas Senate in 2012.
Along the way, Paxton had shown little deference to the prevailing power structure in the Texas Legislature. In 2010, Paxton announced that he was challenging the incumbent House Speaker, moderate Joe Straus, in order “to honestly advance conservative principles and not simply protect the status quo.” Although — lacking enough support to win — Paxton ultimately pulled out before the vote, the attempted regicide was viewed by the powerful Speaker as an unpardonable perfidy.
Paxton compounded his threat to the GOP Establishment when he opposed the anointed favorite, Straus lieutenant and Texas House member Dan Branch, for the Republican nomination for AG in 2014. The high-visibility AG post, one of the most sought-after statewide offices, had long been held by Republican Greg Abbott, and was being vacated due to the retirement of Gov. Rick Perry, ending Perry’s record 14-year tenure and finally allowing Abbott to “move up” as governor after three terms as AG. (Another former Texas AG, GOP Majority Whip John Cornyn, previously used the office as a stepping stone to the U.S. Senate.)
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