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Attorney General

Statewide

Nathan Johnson (D) won the Texas attorney general race with 52.4% of the vote to Mayes Middleton's (R) 45.9%, as called by the Associated Press.

Results

Nathan Johnson vs. Mayes MiddletonNovember 3 results

Pre-electionNot Rated
Democrat: Nathan JohnsonWinner
52.4 percent of the vote5,133,629 votes
Republican: Mayes Middleton
45.9 percent of the vote4,502,442 votes

Tom Oxford (Libertarian) 1.7%

Called by AP9,801,621 votes counted
Texas Secretary of State (opens in new tab)

State count last updated Nov. 4, 4:18 p.m. CT. Unofficial until the state canvass, between Nov. 21 and Dec. 7.

Counties must finish their canvass by Nov. 17, and totals can change until then.

Texas' chief legal officer: represents the state in civil lawsuits, issues legal opinions to state and local officials who request them, and runs child-support enforcement.

Before Election Day: Ratings and Analysis

Written before Election Day and not updated with returns. Ratings and polls describe the race before any returns were reported.

Sabato's Crystal Ball says it “does not issue formal race ratings for these contests” (attorney general and secretary of state races). Its senior columnist Louis Jacobson handicaps them in his own updates; his Oct. 29, 2026 update lists Texas as favoring the Republican, in the tier between Safe and Leans.

Open seat (Paxton left to run for Senate). Republican state senator Mayes Middleton won the May 26 runoff 55.2% over Chip Roy; Democratic state senator Nathan Johnson won his runoff 60.5% over Joe Jaworski.

The University of Houston's October 10-14 survey of 2,000 likely voters put Mayes Middleton at 47% and Nathan Johnson at 42%, with 3% for Libertarian Tom Oxford and 8% undecided. It counts toward the TexPolls headline average.

This open seat (Paxton left to run for Senate) pits two sitting state senators, Mayes Middleton (R) and Nathan Johnson (D). ReconMR/Siena surveyed likely voters September 8-11 and reported Middleton at 45% and Johnson at 44%, with 8% undecided or refusing to answer. See the polling table for the original releases and methodology. No Democrat has won the Texas attorney general race since Dan Morales's reelection in 1994, and Republicans have held the office since 1999.

November Polling Before Election Day

Every poll here was conducted before Election Day. They stay here for comparison with the returns.

  • 254 Labs / YouGov Blue · Oct. 26, 2026 · 1,000 registered voters, weighted to likely-voter targets · ±4.6 MOE

    Johnson 47% · Middleton 45%Johnson +2

    Political sponsor · excluded from average · includes leaners

  • Texas Southern University · Oct. 25, 2026 · 2,000 LV · ±2.19 MOE

    Johnson 45% · Middleton 49%Middleton +4Undec. 4%

  • Texas Public Opinion Research · Oct. 18, 2026 · 969 LV · ±3.9 MOE

    Johnson 46% · Middleton 47%Middleton +1Undec. 5%

    Political sponsor · excluded from average · includes leaners

  • University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs · Oct. 14, 2026 · 2,000 LV · ±2.19 MOE

    Johnson 42% · Middleton 47%Middleton +5Undec. 8%

  • UT Texas Politics Project · Oct. 5, 2026 · 861 LV · ±3.34 MOE

    Johnson 48% · Middleton 47%Johnson +1Undec. 0%

    Includes leaners

  • Stratus Intelligence · Sept. 24, 2026 · 865 LV · ±3.5 MOE

    Johnson 42% · Middleton 47%Middleton +5Undec. 11%

    Political sponsor · excluded from average

  • Texas Public Opinion Research · Sept. 22, 2026 · 1,007 LV · ±3.6 MOE

    Johnson 43% · Middleton 46%Middleton +3

    Political sponsor · excluded from average · includes leaners

  • Texas Southern University · Sept. 19, 2026 · 1,800 LV · ±2.31 MOE

    Johnson 42% · Middleton 47%Middleton +5Undec. 9%

  • ReconMR / Siena Research Institute · Sept. 11, 2026 · 614 LV · ±4.3 MOE

    Johnson 44% · Middleton 45%Middleton +1Undec. 8%

  • Texas Public Opinion Research · Aug. 24, 2026 · 1,000 LV · ±3.3 MOE

    Johnson 41% · Middleton 44%Middleton +3

    Political sponsor · excluded from average

  • UT Texas Politics Project · Aug. 13, 2026 · 1,200 RV · ±2.83 MOE

    Johnson 35% · Middleton 40%Middleton +5

    Registered voters · excluded from average

  • Texas Southern University · July 30, 2026 · 1,200 LV · ±2.83 MOE

    Johnson 41% · Middleton 46%Middleton +5

  • Texas Pulse / ReconMR · July 30, 2026 · 619 LV · ±4.7 MOE

    Johnson 44% · Middleton 46%Middleton +2

  • Texas Public Opinion Research · July 17, 2026 · 1,048 LV · ±3.4 MOE

    Johnson 38% · Middleton 39%Middleton +1

    Political sponsor · excluded from average

Methodology and source notes for 14 polls
  • 254 Labs / YouGov Blue, Oct. 26, 2026

    Fielded October 21-26, 2026 by YouGov Blue 'on behalf of 254 Labs'; released October 28. 1,000 Texas registered voters interviewed online and by text-to-web, quota-sampled, then weighted to likely-voter targets that 254 Labs supplied (including an early-vote turnout benchmark); the release headlines the results as likely voters, but no likely-voter count is published. Margin of error about 4.6 points. Respondents who had already voted were asked how they voted; undecided respondents were asked which way they lean and the lean answers are included in the totals. The release publishes no question wording, no first-choice result, and full crosstabs are subscriber-only. Who paid for the poll is not disclosed; listed as political because 254 Labs describes itself as a Texas political research and analytics organization that serves 'mission-aligned subscribers,' not because a payer was shown. Shown for reference and left out of the headline average.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Southern University, Oct. 25, 2026

    Fielded October 21-25, 2026; released October 29. The Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at TSU reports a probability-based sample of 2,000 likely voters, +/-2.19-point margin of error, and a two-part likely-voter screen supplemented by past election participation. A random sample of registered voters was contacted by SMS and directed to an online survey in English or Spanish; weighted by multidimensional calibration on demographic, historical electoral, and geographic benchmarks. A little more than one-third of respondents had already voted, and the report calls the result vote intention. The report names no outside sponsor, publishes no question wording, and describes no leaned follow-up. Libertarian Tom Oxford 2%, unsure 4%.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Public Opinion Research, Oct. 18, 2026

    Fielded October 15-18, 2026, via an online panel; n=969 likely voters, margin of error ±3.9 points; weighted by gender, race, age, education, income, geography, and 2024 vote recall. Shown with leaners (Q38, "Intermediate Push," after undecided respondents were asked which candidate they lean toward). First-choice result (Q36): Middleton 45%, Johnson 43%, undecided 11%. Libertarian Tom Oxford 1% on the first choice and 2% with leaners; would not vote in that race shown as "-" in the topline. Still not sure after the lean question: 5%. TPOR's release headlines a "Final Push" result that asks remaining undecided respondents a second time and leaves none undecided; that forced result is not used. TPOR describes itself as a nonpartisan polling initiative and names no external commissioner. The site's copyright line names Luke Warford, whom the Texas Tribune (June 6, 2024) describes as the Texas Democratic Party's former chief strategy officer. This topline's page footer reads "Prepared by Slingshot Strategies"; September's read "Prepared by Texas Public Opinion Research."

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, Oct. 14, 2026

    Fielded Oct. 10 to 14, 2026 among 2,000 Texas likely voters contacted by SMS text and directed to an online survey, in English or Spanish. It was weighted by multidimensional calibration on demographic, historical electoral, and geographic benchmarks. The margin of error is ±2.19 points. The report and its Oct. 19 release publish no question wording and no separate questionnaire or topline document (as of Oct. 19, 2026, the Hobby School's Texas 2026 page links only this report, which prints the topline results). The report prints an undecided share and describes no leaner follow-up, the same disclosure standard as other polls in the average. No outside sponsor is named. Released Oct. 19, 2026. Libertarian Tom Oxford 3%, undecided 8%.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • UT Texas Politics Project, Oct. 5, 2026

    University of Texas / Texas Politics Project in-house poll (no outside sponsor), fielded Sept. 25 to Oct. 5, 2026. YouGov interviewed 1,253 Texas registered voters online and matched them to 1,200, weighted by propensity score and post-stratified on 2024 presidential vote, gender, age, race, and education. Likely voters (weighted base 861, 905 unweighted respondents) report the published ±3.34-point margin. Tom Oxford (Libertarian) 1%, someone else 3%, not sure 0%. UT's published ballot folds in a forced follow-up ("If you had to make a choice, who would you choose?") among respondents who first said they didn't know, and the topline does not print the initial ballot. The initial ballot, computed from UT's posted microdata with its own likely-voter flag and weight, is Middleton 43.33%, Johnson 44.51%, not sure 10.26%. Counted in the average under the leaner rule adopted Oct. 21, 2026: when a poll publishes a result that includes leaners, the table and average use it.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Stratus Intelligence, Sept. 24, 2026

    Stratus Intelligence memo, fielded September 22 to 24, 2026 among 865 likely voters; 81% SMS-to-web and 19% live phone; ±3.5 points. The memo names no sponsor and publishes neither question wording nor weighting. Breitbart (September 29) and the Wikipedia Senate-race listing report the poll was conducted for Texans for a Conservative Majority. Sponsored poll, shown with the sponsor disclosed and excluded from the headline average. Undecided 11%.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Public Opinion Research, Sept. 22, 2026

    Fielded September 19-22, 2026, via an online panel; n=1,007 likely voters, margin of error ±3.6 points; weighted by gender, age, race, education, 2024 vote recall, and geography. Initial ballot: Libertarian Tom Oxford 2%, would not vote 1%, undecided 15%. Shown with leaners, from the follow-up asked of undecided respondents. First-choice result: Middleton 43%, Johnson 40%. TPOR describes itself as a nonpartisan polling initiative and names no external commissioner. The site's copyright line names Luke Warford, whom the Texas Tribune (June 6, 2024) describes as the Texas Democratic Party's former chief strategy officer.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Southern University, Sept. 19, 2026

    Fielded September 15-19, 2026. The Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at TSU reports a probability-based sample of 1,800 likely voters, ±2.31-point margin of error, contacted by SMS and directed to an online survey in English or Spanish, with a two-part likely-voter screen supplemented by past election participation. The report does not name an outside sponsor. Three-way ballot naming Libertarian Tom Oxford (2%); 9% unsure; no leaned follow-up described. The report describes its sampling and survey method but not its weighting; our transparency rule requires a published methodology, sample size, margin of error, and public source, and this report meets it, as TSU’s statewide polls do.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • ReconMR / Siena Research Institute, Sept. 11, 2026

    Fielded September 8-11, 2026. ReconMR/Siena's nonpartisan Texas Poll. Prompt named only Middleton and Johnson; 2% chose someone else, 1% would not vote, and 8% did not know or refused. Tom Oxford was an unprompted open-end response rounded to 0%. Mixed live telephone and text-to-web voter-file sample; telephone interviews in English and Spanish. MOE includes design effects.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Public Opinion Research, Aug. 24, 2026

    TPOR director Luke Warford is a Democratic strategist. Ballot named Libertarian Tom Oxford at 1% and independent Omer Khwaja at 1%. Fielded before the Aug. 28 ballot certification. The ballot test named independent Omer Khwaja, who did not qualify for the November ballot.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • UT Texas Politics Project, Aug. 13, 2026

    Ballot named Libertarian Tom Oxford at 3%. Registered voters, not likely voters.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Southern University, July 30, 2026

    Three-way ballot incl. Tom Oxford (L) 3%, with 10% undecided. 77% of likely voters did not know enough about Johnson to rate him. Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center. The poll used SMS-to-web, was fielded July 27 to 30, and was coauthored by Rice's Mark P. Jones. Sampling frame and weighting variables are not disclosed in the report.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Pulse / ReconMR, July 30, 2026

    Texas A&M Bush School consortium, fielded July 27 to 30, released Aug. 7. MOE is the core-question figure (n=619). The ballot is two-way. Middleton led 45-40 in the June wave.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)
  • Texas Public Opinion Research, July 17, 2026

    TPOR director Luke Warford is a Democratic strategist; conducted with Lake Research Partners. 18% undecided.

    Original poll release (opens in new tab)

Each row is one poll, shown as reported. Before Election Day, headline cards averaged eligible likely-voter polls of the nominees taken since the runoff, leaving out polls sponsored by campaigns or political operatives and polls held out over method or ballot differences. See the methodology page. The reported gap is the difference between candidate percentages, not a finding of a statistically significant lead. An undecided share appears only when explicitly recorded from the source; a dash means it has not been recorded. Independently rounded categories may not sum to 100%. Likely-voter (LV) and registered-voter (RV) samples are not directly comparable.

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Campaign Finance

Dataset updated Nov. 1, 2026

Candidate accounts only. Super PACs and other outside groups are not included. Texas Ethics Commission figures cover one account and reporting period each, not a full cycle.

Mayes MiddletonRaised $1.8M

Texas Ethics Commission · Reporting period: Sept. 25, 2026–Oct. 24, 2026

Account: David M. Middleton II (C/OH, TEC filer 00081727)

Filing Details

TEC 8-day-before-election report 101072395, filed Oct. 26, 2026, covering Sept. 25 through Oct. 24. Political contributions exclude pledges, loans, and loan guarantees. Cash on hand is the period-end balance TEC reports as political contributions maintained. Outstanding loan principal: $4,200,000.00. Filing-period totals, not federal cycle-to-date receipts.

Nathan JohnsonRaised $977K

Texas Ethics Commission · Reporting period: Sept. 25, 2026–Oct. 24, 2026

Account: Nathan M. Johnson (C/OH, TEC filer 00081605)

Filing Details

TEC 8-day-before-election report 101072072, filed Oct. 26, 2026, covering Sept. 25 through Oct. 24. Political contributions exclude pledges, loans, and loan guarantees. Cash on hand is the period-end balance TEC reports as political contributions maintained. Outstanding loan principal: $0.00. Filing-period totals, not federal cycle-to-date receipts.

Campaign finance data for candidates
CandidatePartyRaisedSpentCash on HandCoverage
Mayes MiddletonRepublican$1,764,856.68$2,278,218.91$1,601,459.16Texas Ethics Commission · Reporting period: Sept. 25, 2026–Oct. 24, 2026
Nathan JohnsonDemocratic$977,040.13$1,888,477.23$65,646.72Texas Ethics Commission · Reporting period: Sept. 25, 2026–Oct. 24, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the 2026 Texas Attorney General race?

Nathan Johnson (D) won the Texas attorney general race with 52.4% of the vote to Mayes Middleton's (R) 45.9%, as called by the Associated Press. Results are unofficial until the canvass.

Who was on the 2026 ballot for Texas Attorney General?

Nathan Johnson (Democratic), Mayes Middleton (Republican), and Tom Oxford (Libertarian) were on the November 3 ballot.

Mayes Middleton vs. Nathan Johnson: who was on the ballot for Texas Attorney General?

Republican Mayes Middleton and Democrat Nathan Johnson were the major-party candidates for Texas Attorney General on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

Where can I see 2026 results for Texas Attorney General?

This page publishes Texas Secretary of State returns for Texas Attorney General as they become available. Election-night counts are unofficial until canvassed, and TexPolls marks a race called only after a named news organization calls it.

Key Dates

General ElectionNov. 3, 2026