Gohmert officially announces run for Texas Attorney General

TYLER — East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, who has represented the Piney Woods in Washington for nearly 16 years, officially announced Monday he will be challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary. According to our news partner KETK, Rep. Gohmert made the announcement his Twitter page while simultaneously interviewing live on Newsmax TV. “Texas I am officially running to be your next Attorney General and will enforce the rule of law,” said Gohmert on Twitter. “It’s my honor to let you know that we reached our initial goal of raising $1 million dollars in order to start a run for Texas Attorney General. So, I will be filing to run for Texas Attorney General,” said Gohmert. “A priority will be election integrity so that every legal vote counts.”

With Gohmert’s announcement, there immediately began speculation on who would run to replace his seat in Congress. State Sen. Bryan Hughes, seen by many East Texans as the apparent heir after passing the controversial SB 8 anti-abortion law, announced that he would not run for Congress and instead run for re-election to the Texas Senate. Texas House Rep. Matt Schaefer, (R-Tyler), said in a statement at the time that he and his wife Jasilyn were “prayerfully considering our next steps as a family.” Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran also said that he was “exploring the possibility” of running for Congress if Gohmert were to vacate his seat. Former Gohmert staffer Aditya Atholi, a Republican from Center, is the only announced candidate thus far.