Rochelle Garza is the Democrats' best chance of winning statewide office in Texas, but she still

Rochelle Garza is the Democrats’ best chance of winning statewide office in Texas, but she still faces an uphill battle


DALLAS — After a whirlwind day of canvassing voters and donors, Rochelle Garza ended a recent evening at Sokol Dallas, a Czech heritage center, where more than a thousand locals came for a fish fry dinner and to quench their curiosity about the Democratic candidate for Texas attorney general.

With Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” blaring from loudspeakers, Garza introduced herself as a Rio Grande Valley native and the daughter of public school teachers.

“My parents taught me to work really hard and to respect every person, that everyone is deserving of dignity and respect,” Garza said. “And right now we have someone in the attorney general’s office who does not care about people, who does not care about our families.”

She then delivered her standard punchline: “I’m ready to beat criminally indicted Ken Paxton,” she shouted to loud cheers.

Polls show the contest is the tightest of all statewide races. Garza, 37, is within single digits of Paxton, who was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump but long plagued by legal trouble that has turned him into the most vulnerable among Republican incumbents. Indicted seven years ago for securities fraud charges still pending, Paxton is under investigation by the FBI after several former aides claimed he abused his office by helping a wealthy donor. The whistleblowers sued Paxton after he fired them. Paxton has denied wrongdoing.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/03/rochelle-garza-ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general/