Texas Lost Its Grip On The Conservative Legal World. Florida Sees An Opening.

For decades, the Texas attorney general’s office has been a reliable champion for Republican policies and served as a top incubator of conservative legal and political talent.

No longer.

In January, outgoing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) will surrender the keys to the office to Nathan Johnson, making Johnson the first Democrat to hold the position this century. That handoff will leave a hole in the conservative legal world that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, one of the few Republicans to survive last week’s blue tsunami, is poised to fill, a half-dozen lawyers and Republican officials told POLITICO.

Uthmeier, who leads what will now be the largest Republican attorney general’s office, is in a rare category that “further supports his likely positioning as a leader” for Republicans, said Ashley Taylor, co-leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s state attorneys general practice.

“With Texas switching hands, I think it creates somewhat of a leadership vacuum that he will fill,” Taylor said. “The Texas AG often signaled directionally where Republicans were going, and I suspect Florida will now play that role, among others.”

The last two Texas attorneys general, now-Gov. Greg Abbott and Paxton, challenged Democratic policies on hot-button issues like immigration. The two filed at least 48 lawsuits against President Barack Obama’s administration, according to an analysis by The Texas Tribune. Paxton, who took over the role in 2015, went on to sue President Joe Biden more than 100 times in four years.

If Democrats take over the White House in 2029, it would position Uthmeier and Florida as a major Republican antagonist to the president. The Sunshine State, like Texas, was a frequent foil of the Biden administration. And under Gov. Ron DeSantis, while Uthmeier was on his staff, Florida fought Democrats on everything from Covid-19 to immigration and even sued Biden’s Education Department over college accreditation rules.

“I think you're going to see that [Uthmeier] wants to take a leadership role amongst the AGs,” said Ed Burbach, a former deputy attorney general under Abbott and now co-chair of the state attorneys general practice at law firm Foley & Lardner. “[Uthmeier] certainly has the office to do it and certainly has shown willingness to do so.”

One of Uthmeier’s first actions after winning his election last week wastargeting the Democratic Socialists of America, a signal of what’s to come from his office. Uthmeier subpoenaed the group to delve into possible foreign contributions, namely from Cuba and China, tied to their delegations and travel fund solicitations.

As the political tide turned in other states, Florida held the line as a “beacon of freedom” for Republicans, a position that was elevated during the pandemic and one Uthmeier is well-equipped to maintain, said Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power.

“He’s a strong leader with strong beliefs, and he’s not afraid to back them up,” Power said of Uthmeier. “He’ll be ready to take on any fight with any group of people.”

Uthmeier already has been a leading voice in challenging Big Tech and taking on artificial intelligence companies. He was the first attorney general to sue OpenAI and is the only one still pursuing legal action against Meta after rejecting a landmark $17 billion settlement expected to quash lawsuits challenging the social media giant’s child safety features across the country.

“This office has been leading these fights since the day I took office, and we’re going to keep leading them,” Uthmeier said in a statement to POLITICO. “We’re not waiting to see what happens or wondering whether the time is appropriate. When it comes to protecting our kids and keeping Floridians safe, doing what’s right means acting right now.”

“Florida voters gave us four more years, and we’ll use every one of those days, starting now,” he said.

Texas voters, however, decided they had had enough of Paxton’s style of running the attorney general’s office, rejecting Republican nominee Mayes Middleton who had described the attorney general’s most important role as “defeating the left.”

Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment.  

Johnson told local media Monday that he plans to review the state’s pending lawsuits before deciding which can be dropped.

“I want to take a look at that litigation and at all the litigation Ken Paxton has pending. Is this valid, or is this a stunt?” Johnson told POLITICO last week.

He’s also promised to sue the Trump administration when “the federal government is overstepping in Texas.” That could lend the resources of the second-largest attorney general’s office in the country to the various lawsuits against President Donald Trump's policies already being pursued by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who got his start working as a law clerk in the attorney general’s office when it was run by John Cornyn, now a Republican senator for Texas, told POLITICO he hopes the turnover sparked by Johnson’s victory will lead to refreshed “energy and focus” on nonpartisan issues like child support collection.

Roy surrendered his safe Republican House seat to run for Texas attorney general this year, seeking a return to the office he once helped run as Paxton’s deputy but losing to Middleton in the primary. Now, he’s realistic about the potential for Texas to be a thorn in the side of the Trump administration.

“You've now got a fairly strong weapon, that is the office of attorney general in Texas, which is now going to be in the hands of the opposing party of the current Republican administration,” said Roy. “That’s a big deal.”

Texas attorneys general and their staff, starting with Cornyn, who was sworn into office as the state’s 49th attorney general in 1999, have used the position as a platform from which to burnish their conservative credentials before going on to higher office. Other prominent alumni include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who served as solicitor general, and more than 10 federal judges nominated by Trump.

“They’re really a major player, just based on size, resources, the impact and power of that institution,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) told POLITICO. “Having it move from the Republican AGs to the Democratic AGs … having it standing up for constitutional rights and civil rights and consumer protection and antitrust enforcement are all massive positive gains for the people of the state of Texas and the people of our country.”

Republicans can count on Florida’s attorney general office staying red until at least 2030, setting up Uthmeier as the chief antagonist of a potential future Democratic president.

“James sitting there in that seat in Florida gives us at least the next two years to defend the administration and stand up for conservative interests and policies in Florida, but also be there for two years should the White House go the other direction in '28,” Roy said.

Only time will tell if Florida will fully inherit Texas’ position in the conservative legal landscape. But for now, Democrats are reveling in having removed one of their most persistent opponents.

“A future Democratic administration, and I hope and believe we'll have one in 2028, will not have to deal with an abusive, politically weaponized, Texas AG’s office,” said Bonta. “And that is good.”