Three of the four people running for the Republican nomination for Texas attorney general met for a debate Thursday. Early voting ends Friday; the primary is Tuesday.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, Congressman Louie Gohmert and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman attended the debate. Current Attorney General Ken Paxton did not.
During his opening statement, Gohmert mentioned Paxton.
"He is under investigation by the FBI, and he's likely going to be indicted after the primary when we can't replace him," Gohmert said.
Bush mentioned Paxton's lawsuit challenging 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
"When Ken Paxton filed that suit, he clearly was trying to save his own you-know-what by trying to get a preemptive federal pardon from President Trump," Bush said.
"[Joe Biden] is our president, and we need to look at what we do going forward," Guzman said.
The three were asked to raise their hand if they believed Biden had won the 2020 election. Guzman raised her hand and then lowered it several times.
"It's undetermined from my perspective," she said.
"I don't know whether he did or not," Gohmert said.
Bush was the only one to raise his hand.
On border security, Gohmert said Texas may not have the ability to enforce federal immigration law, but the state does have the legal ability to deter illegal immigration.
"You don't let them come into Texas. You repel the invasion," Gohmert said. "They're killing tens of thousands of Americans with guns coming across. It is an invasion, and it's got to stop."
Bush said the attorney general should have a stronger presence along the border.
"It'll be my office that will forward-deploy a mobile prosecution unit to address the border insecurity we are seeing that Ken Paxton refuses to address," Bush said.
"Our law enforcement officers are under attack, whether it's the border patrol or our police officers on the streets every single day," Guzman said, saying she would push for a constitutional amendment allowing the attorney general's office to prosecute felonies.
All three said they would fight against legal challenges to Texas' abortion law. They also supported clemency for the 19 Austin police officers indicted on felony counts of aggravated assault by a public servant for their actions during George Floyd protests in 2020. Governor Greg Abbott has said he is considering clemency for those officers.
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