Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is expected to step into the GOP legal leadership role Texas is losing, lawyers and officials told Politico.
Democrat Nathan Johnson will become Texas attorney general in January, replacing Ken Paxton as the first Democrat in the job this century, and defeating Republican candidate Mayes Middleton. It’s a seismic shift, as the Texas attorney general’s office has been a longtime launching pad for conservative lawyers and policy, Politico noted.
Uthmeier, who, along with the rest of Florida’s statewide GOP slate, survived last week’s Democratic wave, will now run what Politico calls the biggest Republican attorney general’s office with Texas gone.
Ashley Taylor, who co-leads a state attorneys general practice at Troutman Pepper Locke, said she thinks the shift creates “somewhat of a leadership vacuum” for Uthmeier to fill.
Politico notes Florida, like Texas, was a frequent foil to the Biden administration and sued its Education Department over college accreditation rules. If Democrats win the White House in 2029, Politico says, Uthmeier could become a leading Republican opponent.
Florida GOP chair Evan Power said Uthmeier is ready to take on any fight.
Since winning, Uthmeier has subpoenaed the Democratic Socialists of America over possible foreign funding tied to Cuba and China, Politico says. He was also reportedly the first attorney general to sue OpenAI and is the only one still suing Meta after turning down a $17 billion settlement.
In a statement, he said voters gave him four more years, and he’ll start using them immediately.
In Texas, Johnson has said he’ll review Paxton’s pending lawsuits before deciding which to drop, and promised to sue the Trump administration if it overreaches in Texas. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who lost the GOP primary for attorney general, said Uthmeier gives Republicans a defender in place for the next two years. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, welcomed the shift.
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