Summary
With Congress control at the center of voters’ attention in November, the Associated Press reports that state attorney general races are drawing outsized attention—and outsized fundraising—from partisan networks, corporate interests and advocacy groups. The reason, as supporters of both parties describe it, is that the job is increasingly tied to high-profile legal fights that can affect national policy.
The AP reported that Republican organizations dedicated to state attorney general contests said they raised a record $29 million last year in preparation for the 2026 midterms. Democratic counterparts said they brought in $28 million—twice as much as usual at this stage of the election cycle—according to the AP. The AP said there are 30 attorney general seats on the ballot this year and that money is flowing from technology companies, tobacco companies and others, including millions from law firms, unions and ideological groups.
Part of the growing appeal of the attorney general office is the leverage winners can gain beyond their state borders. James Tierney, a former Maine attorney general who teaches about the position at Harvard, said, “Because we try to solve so many of our problems with lawsuits, the office of attorney general has become more important,” according to the AP.
The AP also pointed to a pattern of career advancement from attorney general to governor and other higher offices. It reported that at least six current attorneys general are running for governor this year, and that 10 current governors first won the attorney general position after wrapping up their terms. It also noted examples from recent national politics: when Kamala Harris ran for president in 2024, three of the finalists to be her running mate—Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania—were former attorneys general serving as governor, the AP reported. On the Republican side, the AP said President Donald Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, previously served in that role in Florida.
Adam Piper, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, told the AP that donors are increasingly interested because of the political potential for those who win. Piper said the AGs used to be “the underdogs in the races” for top-of-the-ballot offices, but that “Now, they’re the favorite in them,” according to the AP.
While the AP described major fundraising on both sides, it also emphasized where parties see their strongest opportunities for seat changes. The AP said Republican-focused efforts are in swing states where Democrats won in 2022, including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. The AP said Democrats think they could gain seats in Georgia, Kansas and Ohio, and that Republicans are targeting pickups in Minnesota and New York.
In Texas, the AP described attorney general politics as intertwined with efforts to project legal authority across state lines. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, is facing state Sen. Mayes Middleton in a May 26 runoff for the party’s nomination, the AP reported. Ken Paxton, the current attorney general, is also in a runoff for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate against incumbent John Cornyn, the AP said. The AP reported that Paxton made headlines when he was acquitted of corruption charges at an impeachment trial and for aggressive efforts to investigate gender-affirming care of minors and abortion cases, including across state lines.
The AP reported that both Roy and Middleton have pledged to stop what they call the “Islamification” of Texas. Middleton said in a debate last month that if he were elected he would investigate financier and liberal donor George Soros—who is a subject of some conservative conspiracy theories—for the “crimes I believe he’s committed,” according to the AP. Roy, the AP reported, also framed a run for the attorney general job as a chance to have a singular focus on statewide priorities: “I’ll be one of one instead of one of 435 (members of the U.S. House) fighting for you,” he said.
The eventual statewide contest, according to the AP, will be against the winner of a Democratic runoff between state Sen. Nathan Johnson and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski. The AP said any Democratic statewide victory would be considered an upset.
The AP also linked the attorney general office’s rising profile to frequent lawsuits targeting the Trump administration. The AP reported that this month, a group of 24 Democratic officials—22 attorneys general and two governors in states where attorneys general are Republican—sued the Trump administration over the president’s attempt to impose tariffs on imports after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an earlier version of the trade penalties. The AP said that more than a year after Trump returned to office, Democratic officials have filed more than 80 lawsuits against the administration, and they have received favorable rulings in the majority of them, according to the Progressive State Leaders Committee, an arm of the Democratic Attorneys General Association.
Sean Rankin, the association’s president, told the AP that members of his group are “the only lever to hold Trump accountable” because Congress is compliant and controlled by Republicans, the AP reported.
In Arizona, the AP described a high-stakes contest with Kris Mayes, the Democrat who won the attorney general seat in 2022 by just 280 votes. Mayes told the AP in an interview that the lawsuits against the administration—her office has joined 38—have saved Arizona $1.5 billion. She said the effect included keeping money flowing for programs including AmeriCorps, Head Start and universities, according to the AP. Mayes also said, “If you don’t have an attorney general who is willing to stand up to the federal government,” your state is going to get hurt, the AP reported.
The AP said Mayes also has been willing to use criminal charges in politically sensitive cases. It reported that she was the first attorney general to file criminal charges against Kalshi, the prediction market company, accusing it of operating an illegal gambling business.
Among the Republicans seeking to challenge Mayes in November, the AP reported that Rodney Glassman has made withdrawing from Mayes’s challenges to the administration’s policies a centerpiece of his campaign. Glassman called the filings “clickbait” and based in partisan politics, the AP said. Glassman said, “She has reorganized the office to go after Republicans,” according to the AP, and he reported making a fundraising pitch tied to the pace of lawsuits, asking smaller donors for $1 for every lawsuit that Mayes has joined against the administration.
Glassman, the AP reported, is set to face state Senate President Warren Peterson in the June 22 primary. Glassman told the AP that if he won in November, he would stop criminal prosecutions Mayes pursued against Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others for trying to overturn the president’s 2020 election loss in the state. The AP said a Republican win could accelerate Trump’s attempts to pursue falsehoods about voter fraud in Arizona, and noted that Peterson’s campaign did not respond to interview requests while he recently handed election records to the FBI, according to the AP.