Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) is walking away from a safe congressional seat, his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee’s Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee, and a prominent perch in the House Freedom Caucus — all to run for Texas Attorney General.
The reason: incumbent AG Ken Paxton is vacating the office to run for the U.S. Senate seat being opened by the retiring John Cornyn. That created a four-way Texas Republican primary 2026 slugfest scheduled for March 3, with Roy, State Sen. Mayes Middleton, State Sen. Joan Huffman, and former Deputy AG Aaron Reitz all vying for the nomination.
The winner will almost certainly become the next attorney general. Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to any statewide office since the 1990s, and the AG seat has been in Republican hands since Greg Abbott first won it in 2002. Even in 2018’s blue wave, Paxton held on by 3.5 points. In 2022, while under felony indictment, he won by nearly 10.
The real contest is the primary. And in the primary, money talks.
The Money: $22.5 Million and Counting
Campaign finance filings with the Texas Ethics Commission, as aggregated by Transparency USA, paint a striking picture of how the Texas Attorney General candidates are funding their campaigns — and where the money is coming from.
| Candidate | Total Raised | Self-Funded | Cash on Hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayes Middleton | $12,215,846 | $10,000,000 | $9,937,615 |
| Chip Roy | $4,725,960 | $1,000,000 | $2,586,508 |
| Aaron Reitz | $3,871,056 | $0 | $1,567,213 |
| Joan Huffman | $1,715,669 | $0 | $1,509,313 |
Middleton: The Self-Funder
Middleton is the financial heavyweight, but of his $12.2 million war chest, $10 million came from his own pocket — drawn from his family oil fortune. Strip out the self-funding, and his outside fundraising of roughly $2.2 million actually places him third among the four candidates. The Texas Tribune reported that the four-way primary "drew millions in donations over the second half of 2025," but Middleton’s dominance is largely a story about personal wealth, not broad donor support.
Roy: The Top Outside Fundraiser
The Chip Roy attorney general campaign tells a different financial story. Roy raised approximately $3.7 million from donors — more than any other candidate from outside sources — plus a $1 million personal loan, all within a compressed window after his August 2025 entry into the race. Per Texas Scorecard, Roy had over $4 million in cash on hand after spending more than $1.2 million in that period.
His donor base reflects his national profile. FEC records from his congressional campaign show a pattern of large individual contributions and aligned PAC support. The Saulsbury family of Texas contributed a combined $44,400. PAC contributors include the National Beer Wholesalers Association PAC ($15,000), Associated Builders and Contractors PAC ($7,500), SIG Sauer PAC ($7,000), and the House Freedom Fund ($5,020).
The contribution pattern skews heavily toward large donors. Of the 2,967 contributions recorded for the 2026 cycle, the visible data shows primarily contributions of $1,000 to $6,534, with relatively few small-dollar donations.
Reitz: Punching Above His Weight
Aaron Reitz has been a fundraising surprise. He pulled in nearly $3.9 million entirely from donors — no self-funding — despite polling in the single digits. Paxton has endorsed Reitz, calling him the direct heir to his combative AG legacy. But with $1.6 million in cash on hand, Reitz has already burned through a significant portion of his haul, likely on building the name recognition he lacks.
Huffman: The Underdog
Huffman’s $1.7 million is the most modest total, consistent with her lower polling position. Her spending has been restrained, suggesting she is conserving resources for a late push — though whether that strategy can overcome a significant polling deficit remains an open question.
What the Donors Are Buying: The Stakes of the Texas AG Republican Primary
The Texas Attorney General’s office is not a ceremonial post. It commands a massive litigation operation that has filed dozens of lawsuits against federal agencies, intervened in national policy fights on immigration, energy regulation, and social policy, and served as a launchpad for higher office (Abbott went from AG to governor; Paxton is now running for Senate).
Each candidate’s donor base reflects a different theory of what the office should be.
Roy’s donors — a mix of Freedom Caucus-aligned PACs, construction industry groups, and firearms manufacturers — are betting on a candidate who frames the AG job as an extension of his congressional work: border enforcement litigation, constitutional limits on federal power, and fiscal conservatism. Roy spent a decade in the Texas Solicitor General’s office and served as Paxton’s First Assistant AG, giving him direct experience running the office. At the only primary debate, he said: "We need an attorney general who has a demonstrated track record of success, who is independent and strong, willing to work with this administration and willing to fight for the people of Texas."
Middleton’s self-funding reflects a candidacy built on personal resources rather than institutional support. He is running on his conservative legislative record — transgender bathroom restrictions, school choice, border security bills — rather than courtroom experience. He has drawn the endorsement of the True Texas Project, a grassroots conservative group. But rival Reitz attacked him sharply: "We can’t have some child who’s never practiced law before in his life and is pretending to be a lawyer for the first time ever, who inherited his dad’s oil company, be the next attorney general."
Reitz’s donor network, fueled by the Paxton endorsement, represents the MAGA legal warfare wing. He has promised to "ensure the full weight of the Office of the Attorney General is behind President Trump and his agenda" and to "destroy the left." Trump reportedly called him "a true MAGA attorney."
Huffman’s donors are backing a competence-first pitch from a former felony prosecutor and state district judge. As one analyst told the Texas Tribune: "The campaign Huffman is running looks a lot like a good general election campaign, where you’ve got voters that are much less partisan and want somebody running the AG’s office based on their competence."
The Lobbying Gap
One notable absence in the data: no lobbying disclosure reports were found that specifically cite Roy’s sponsored legislation in the 119th Congress, including high-profile bills like the SAVE Act (requiring proof of citizenship to vote) and the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (sanctioning International Criminal Court officials). That doesn’t mean lobbying isn’t occurring on the underlying issues — organizations may lobby on broader policy areas without citing specific bill numbers — but it means a direct money-to-legislation pipeline cannot be documented from available filings.
Who Wins and Why
A January 2026 poll of 550 likely Republican primary voters showed Roy at 33% and Middleton at ~23%, with Huffman and Reitz further back. Roy’s favorability rating of 54% led the field.
But the math is the problem. With four candidates splitting the vote, Roy needs to clear 50% outright to avoid a runoff. If he doesn’t, the dynamics shift: Middleton’s $9.9 million cash-on-hand advantage could sustain a prolonged second round, and consolidation of Huffman and Reitz voters becomes the decisive variable.
The Texas Republican primary electorate — older, whiter, and more suburban than the state’s overall population — favors candidates with strong name recognition and endorsement networks. Roy has the Ted Cruz endorsement and a congressional profile. Middleton has the money to buy awareness. Reitz has the Paxton stamp. Huffman has the résumé.
The bottom line: Roy is the frontrunner, but the race remains fluid. Money alone hasn’t determined the pecking order — Roy leads in polls despite being outspent by Middleton’s self-funded operation. The question is whether $10 million in personal wealth can buy what donor enthusiasm and institutional endorsements have given Roy for free.