Elon Musk's Lawyer John Bash Enters Texas Attorney General Race

John Bash, who previously served as a U.S. attorney and is now the legal counsel for billionaire Elon Musk, has officially announced his candidacy for Texas’s next attorney general. Bash is the first to take on incumbent Ken Paxton, indicating a potentially significant GOP primary contest.

Bash, a Republican and native of El Paso, enters the race with an impressive legal background. Upon completing his studies at Harvard Law School in 2006, he served as a clerk for two conservative Supreme Court justices: the late Antonin Scalia and Brett Kavanaugh. Bash later held the position of U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas from 2017 to 2020 and served as a special assistant and associate counsel to former President Donald Trump.

Throughout his legal career, Bash has consistently embraced conservative values and maintained a strong connection with GOP leadership. As a U.S. attorney, he was instrumental in carrying out the Trump administration’s contentious family separation policy.

“I’m running because I am confident in my ability to serve Texas with integrity and strong conservative leadership,” Bash stated. “I have represented clients in numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and have defended them in some of the most intricate legal challenges of our era.”

At the same time, Attorney General Ken Paxton has declared that he will not pursue re-election and will instead initiate a campaign to contest U.S. Senator John Cornyn. “A change is needed in Texas,” Paxton stated during an appearance on Fox News.

Bash’s candidacy paves the way for an intense competition to head the state’s premier law enforcement office, particularly with influential personalities like Musk casting their support from the sidelines.