A Republican state senator who spotlighted his support for President Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda is one step closer to succeeding Ken Paxton as Texas attorney general.
State Sen. Mayes Middleton on Tuesday defeated Rep. Chip Roy, one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House, for the Republican attorney general nomination in Texas, the Associated Press reports.
The ballot-box battle between Roy and Middleton, the president of an independent oil and gas company, turned bitter and expensive, and partially became a test of which candidate was more of a fighter for Trump and his America First and MAGA movements.
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Middleton, who edged Roy in the March primary, dished out roughly $17 million of his own money to back his campaign. But Roy, a former Texas assistant attorney general and former chief of staff to conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, received a late surge in fundraising from major backers.
"We've gotten the financial support necessary to compete with my self-funder opponent, who's got his inheritance money that he can just spend," Roy highlighted in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the runoff.
Roy argued that Middleton's lack of courtroom experience would make him a poor attorney general.
"Having been the first assistant attorney general makes me ready on day one, but it's also that I've been a prosecutor, I've been in court, I've sat in front of a judge, stood in front of a judge, argued cases, and he has never done any of those things. And we think those things should matter," Roy emphasized.
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Middleton pushed back, questioning Roy's conservative credentials and running ads claiming Roy's "betrayed MAGA" as he pointed to the times the congressman has broken with Trump over policy.
"Chip Roy is someone that has spent a decade fighting the president. He actually said President Trump committed impeachable conduct on the House floor," Middleton told Fox News Digital. "Instead of spending 10 years fighting President Trump, what have I done? I've spent 10 years fighting to defeat the left, which is what matters the most in this race."
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But Roy, in response, said, "Everyone knows that I'm a longtime defender and supporter of the president's agenda, of the America First agenda, the MAGA agenda, but I'm also an independent thinker who will stand up and make the case."
And pointing to Middleton, Roy charged, "MAGA is not something you just buy. My opponent thinks you can buy the brand."
Middleton returned fire, arguing, "Chip Roy is putting out there that he is a top ally to President Trump when the exact opposite is the case."
Trump stayed neutral in the runoff showdown.
Middleton will likely face Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson, who came close to clinching his party's nomination in the primary. Johnson was facing off against former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski.
Paxton decided against seeking re-election, as he ran for the Republican Senate nomination against longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn.
