Joe Jaworski

Joe Jaworski (Democratic Party) is running for election for Attorney General of Texas. He declared candidacy for the general election scheduled on November 3, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Joe Jaworski lives in Galveston, Texas. Jaworski earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish language and literature from Davidson College in 1984 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991. His career experience includes owning the Jaworski Law Firm and working as an attorney with Griggs and Harrison, P.C., and Simpson, Beeton, Finegan & Jaworski, L.L.P.^[1]^[2]

Elections

2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Attorney General of Texas

Joe Jaworski, Nathan Johnson, Mayes Middleton, Aaron Reitz, and Chip Roy are running in the general election for Attorney General of Texas on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Joe Jaworski (D)
		Nathan Johnson (D)
		Mayes Middleton (R)
		Aaron Reitz (R)
		Chip Roy (R)

	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Endorsements

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2022

General election

General election for Attorney General of Texas

Incumbent Ken Paxton defeated Rochelle Garza and Mark Ash in the general election for Attorney General of Texas on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ken Paxton (R)	53.4	4,278,986
	Rochelle Garza (D)	43.7	3,497,267
	Mark Ash (L)	2.9	233,750

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,010,003
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Attorney General of Texas

Rochelle Garza defeated Joe Jaworski in the Democratic primary runoff for Attorney General of Texas on May 24, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Rochelle Garza	62.7	305,168
	Joe Jaworski	37.3	181,744

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 486,912
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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for Attorney General of Texas

Incumbent Ken Paxton defeated George P. Bush in the Republican primary runoff for Attorney General of Texas on May 24, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ken Paxton	68.0	633,223
	George P. Bush	32.0	298,577

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 931,800
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Texas

Rochelle Garza and Joe Jaworski advanced to a runoff. They defeated Lee Merritt, Mike Fields, and S. T-Bone Raynor in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Texas on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rochelle Garza	43.0	438,134
✔		Joe Jaworski	19.8	202,140
		Lee Merritt	19.4	198,108
		Mike Fields	12.3	125,373
	Submit photo	S. T-Bone Raynor	5.5	55,944

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,019,699
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Texas

Incumbent Ken Paxton and George P. Bush advanced to a runoff. They defeated Eva Guzman and Louis B. Gohmert Jr. in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Texas on March 1, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ken Paxton	42.7	823,199
✔	George P. Bush	22.8	439,240
	Eva Guzman	17.5	337,761
	Louis B. Gohmert Jr.	17.0	327,257

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,927,457
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Matt Krause (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Attorney General of Texas

Mark Ash advanced from the Libertarian convention for Attorney General of Texas on April 10, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Mark Ash (L)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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2022

Joe Jaworski completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Jaworski's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Texans love fighters and that is exactly who Joe Jaworski is.

Joe Jaworski is a third-generation Texas trial attorney and former mayor of Galveston, Texas. Joe’s term as mayor was defined by his unwavering support for and success in rebuilding Galveston’s storm-devastated public housing; a political choice that made a positive difference for thousands of Island residents but cost him a second term.

His family legacy is one of integrity and ethics. Joe’s grandfather Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski had the guts to take on President Nixon and Nixon’s corrupt Administration by fighting for justice in our nation’s highest court. Leon Jaworski’s legacy after Watergate - a family value which Joe honors daily - is “no one is above the law.”

This is why Joe is running for Texas Attorney General. In Texas, too many of our public officials think they are above the law. The tearing down of our institutions has led us to lose faith in our democracy. We need someone who can restore integrity to public service in Texas. Someone who chooses right over wrong. Someone who will use our legal system to fight for fairness and justice.

That’s what Joe has done his entire career, as a lawyer and as a mayor. We need an Attorney General with the courage of Joe’s grandfather — the courage to stand up to the politically powerful. Joe is prepared to live up to that legacy.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Legalize adult-use Cannabis in Texas.
Enhance, not suppress, legal voting for all Texans.
Promote and support local officials' decision-making authority.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Cannabis reform

Consumer protection
Holding health insurers accountable to provide the benefits policy holders expect to receive

Promote, enhance, and not suppress, legal voting for all eligible Texans

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The Office of the Texas Attorney General affects every Texan. The office is very large, with over 4200 employees and physical branches all throughout Texas, and it is led by The Texas Attorney General, a Constitutional Statewide Executive officeholder. By design, the Texas Constitution puts restrictions on the Texas Governor, and when compared to the powers of other states' Governors, the office of Texas Governor is comparatively a weak office; the Texas Legislature is part time, but the Office of Texas Attorney General is full time and powerful. Accordingly, this office requires great professionalism and discretion. The Texas AG is popularly elected, but an effective Attorney General should act less like a politician, and more like a first class attorney and counselor. The Texas AG has the responsibility to defend the State in Court, and , importantly, he also has the power to initiate litigation, affect policy and effect change in the Courts. As the attorney for the State of Texas, the AG is the people's attorney, not the Governor's attorney, not even necessarily the Legislature's attorney. If there is a law that is passed that is unconstitutional or otherwise illegal, it is the Attorney General's job to declare it so. The OAG is responsible for enforcing child support orders, protecting the public's interest in Charitable Trusts and Foundations, reviewing public finance offerings, drafting legal opinions to resolve unsettled matters of law, resolving Public Information disputes and representing The State of Texas in all courts. Above all, the Texas Attorney General must conduct himself within reasonable norms of behavior, act professionally and politically in a way that is beyond reproach and not be indicted or under FBI investigation. Unfortunately, the incumbent fails all three of these standards.

The National Association of Attorneys General has described the office as being at the "intersection of law and public policy." What does that mean to you?

General John Hill used two key words to describe his duties as Texas Attorney General: "enforcer and protector." Speaking specifically about his office, as well as generally of his colleagues' offices, he said "we enforce laws in many areas, and if we do so consistently and evenhandedly, Attorneys General can protect the public and build respect for the law." The Office of Attorney General offers leadership in common area of legal representation - appearing in court, drafting attorney opinions, offering counselor guidance to state agencies - and the Attorney General as an individual is popularly elected and can lead - as a political thought leaders, as a partisan leader as a statesman. All of these are important components of leadership.

A state's attorney general has many responsibilities. Which of those do you personally consider the most important?

The greatest responsibility of the Texas Attorney General is to know when to sue and when not to sue. Specifically, it all comes down to priorities: If the AG is happy to accept large donations from insurance lobbyists, he might be less inclined to promote the consumer interests of all Texans when it comes to holding property and health care insurers to account. If the AG happily accepts generous donations from special interests he might be less inclined to hold polluters accountable. If he is a rank partisan, selfishly hell-bent on remaining in office, he'll probably sue to block any innovative local leader seeking to expand the legal vote. If he seeks a pardon to stay out of federal prison, he'll likely file a frivolous original proceeding in the United States Supreme Court to overturn the legal, popular vote. All of these examples are real. It is a great shame. It damages the notion of Texas exceptionalism. It is my honor to run to restore integrity to the Office of the Texas Attorney General.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my grandfather Leon Jaworski. We were very close. I lived with him and his wife Jeanette - my grandmother - during my freshman year of college in Houston, Texas. Before that my grandparents were always a part of all family occasions, holidays and special celebrations. Leon was born in Texas in 1904, two years after his father Reverend Joseph Jaworski and his mother Marie (born and raised in Austria) emigrated from Germany. Reverend Jaworski was a Texas country preacher, who had studied for the Jesuit Priesthood in Poland (he ultimately chose to worship as a Lutheran and embrace a Protestant faith), and he raised Leon and his siblings in a strict environment that required excellence in education and adherence to a strict moral code. I admire my grandfather Leon because he alway put service before self. When WWII broke out my grandfather was too old for the draft, but he enlisted as a JAG officer and ultimately prosecuted dozens of war criminals responsible for murder and torture at Death Camps Auschwitz, Dachau, Hadamar and other locations. Later, Leon served as a special prosecutor for Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett refused to integrate University of Mississippi. Leon Jaworski held Governor Barnett to account and student James Meredith was admitted. My grandfather again answered his Nation's call when he served as Watergate Special Prosecutor after the Saturday Night Massacre. The lesson of Watergate - when my grandfather took the Nixon Administration to the U.S. Supreme Court - was "No Man is above the Law, not even the President." I visited Leon and Jeanette in Washington, D.C. for a full week in March 1974 (I was twelve and on Spring Break from school), during the height of the Watergate affair, and I witnessed my grandfather's courage daily, and we also enjoyed being together as a family. Like Leon Jaworski, I respect the Rule of Law. Texas deserves an ethical Attorney General who puts integrity first.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Transparency and honesty; authenticity; and true curiousness. Positive leadership requires all of these, and it is even more important to know when to listen and open-mindedly consider opposing views and when to vehemently oppose dangerous thought. For example, in the voting realm: I am eager to understand claims of voter fraud and offer a solution on how to combat voter fraud - given the documented instances we see, but I am opposed to and will righteously fight any effort that claims this fraud is rampant and widespread and is a reason to suppress the public vote. I know the best way to dilute what little fraud exists is to increase legal voting.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I posses a positive, optimistic attitude in all things. I work until the job is done, even if i fail to achieve the objective at first - i persist. I am curious, and i want to hear all sides before determining the path forward. i possess great empathy, and I sincerely wish to help improve the human condition. I am not greedy; i am generous with my resources and time. I am not paranoid, nor do i look to political office to validate my life. I believe in government; i am a fan of good government and good leaders. I am loyal to my wife of 31 years, and I am very proud of my children. I honor my family legacy, The Jaworski name means everything to me, and I will never disgrace it. I will never embarrass Texas.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities of the Texas Attorney General are as follows: Be a skilled trial attorney and mediator of conflict; be a positive, encouraging leader; be a mentor to young leaders; recruit skilled attorneys of all backgrounds and race; and conduct oneself professionally and personally in a way that is above reproach. This is not meant to be a career or a "forever" job: while one serves as Attorney General one must be a positive leader who serves by example.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to serve as Texas Attorney General for no more than two terms - eight years. I'd like to be remembered as General Jaworski, the Texas AG who focused on enhancing the legal vote, helped Texans achieve certainty in health care outcomes by holding health insurers to account, and hired a highly competent, skilled and diverse leadership council, setting the future standard for all Texas Attorneys General.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Shiny Happy People by REM

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

When I was Mayor of Galveston I was elected without a runoff in a five way race. Victory was sweet. The victory lap was empowering. In office, I had to make some rightful, but largely unpopular choices. One was supporting the rebuild of Galveston Public Housing (all of which had been destroyed by 2008's Hurricane Ike). I boldly appointed a progressive Housing Authority Commission, and as Mayor I often commenting publicly on its work. We courageously pursued the rebuild in the form of mixed income housing, a decision which was the right thing to do, and it cost me my re-election. It was unpopular in some quarters because mixed income triples the number of units (and some saw that as too much, even if all income levels would be represented). I was harassed and threatened by many, and supported by others. There is an HBO show (based on a book of the same name) called "Show Me a Hero" which documents a similar experience from the 1980s in Yonkers, NY. Ultimately, as my housing team proceeded with our plans, I became aware of the likelihood of re-election defeat, and was even offered a "way out" - by abandoning the rebuild, the opposition promised to desist, but I chose to proceed with the rebuild and endure the consequences. I was sorely tested in that experience. I struggled because I was ridiculed by some community members, some who were racists and some who simply had an economic incentive to defeat the rebuild. I made it to a runoff, and was defeated by the challenger who ran on the slogan "HUD out of Galveston." Ultimately, in the face of great federal and legal pressure, my successor relented and grudgingly supported the rebuild. Then, after three years of federal litigation brought by the anti-housing coalition, the opponents were defeated, and groundbreaking and ribbon cutting followed. Now, there are two beautiful neighborhoods - The Cedars at Carver Park and The Villas on The Strand. A third neighborhood is underway. The struggle was hard, but worthwhile.

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Campaign website

Jaworski's campaign website stated the following:

“

As Attorney General I will never embarrass Texas in The Supreme Court of the United States.

I will never file embarrassing frivolous litigation in any court. When we file it will be to win and protect Texans, not to pull a political stunt.

I will support the Affordable Care Act.

That specifically means I will advocate that we expand Medicaid so that billions in Texans’ tax dollars paid to our federal government return to the state to create jobs, insure families and sustain our vital network of rural hospitals.

I will lead a statewide effort to legalize adult-use recreational purpose cannabis.

…in a regulated, pro business free market to create 30,000 direct industry jobs and raise over $1B in revenue for every Texas legislature; to treat veterans’ PTSD and chronic pain and offer a wellness alternative to opioids so Texas can fight a winning war on addiction; to usher in positive and long overdue social and criminal justice reform; and to give police and prosecutors a break from time consuming, wasteful, petty prosecutions and honor their actual scope of work, their skills and valuable resources,saving over $300 million annually to fight real crime.

Sign our petition to legalize cannabis here.

I will create a Texas Attorney General Civil Rights Division to protect the civil rights of all Texans.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 are the law of the land. Our civil rights are protected by Texas state law as well. As new laws are passed, protected classes are defined and society’s concept of social justice matures, you should be able to count on the Office of the Texas Attorney General to protect civil rights in employment, education, housing, voting, the courts, physical access to accommodations and above all interaction with our criminal justice system. You can expect General Joe Jaworski’s Civil Rights Division to keep the playing field fair for you and your family.

I will support cities, counties, and school districts in their local decision-making authority.

The Republican Party of Texas has declared war on cities and counties – which is outrageous because every Texan lives in a city or a county. It’s like the Republican leadership is hating on our most basic sense of identity: Our hometowns. I say you should get to live where you want – City, suburbs or the country – and enjoy the freedom of choosing a unique place to live and prosper. Texas is big enough for that. As Attorney General I will support local authorities’ innovative governing. Let Abilene be Abilene; let Houston be Houston; let Tyler be Tyler; and let Brownsville be Brownsville.

I will turn Ken Paxton’s wasteful voter fraud division into General Jaworski’s voter access division.

I’ll diligently prosecute what little fraud exists, and I know the best way to guarantee the integrity of each election: make it easier for everyone 18 and older to vote legally. Texans want to vote, but indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton makes it harder for Texans to vote. He says: “No vote by mail, no after hours voting for shift workers, no drive through voting and only one drop box per county!” Ken Paxton is suppressing Republican and Democratic votes. Here’s my message to Ken Paxton: “Don’t mess with Texas voters!”

For more information, read Joe’s op-ed on HB6 here.^[3]

”

—Joe Jaworski's campaign website (2022)^[4]

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Joe Jaworski campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Attorney General of Texas	Lost primary runoff	$1,506,240	$1,870,437
Grand total			$1,506,240	$1,870,437
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

External links

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Candidate

Attorney General of Texas

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Texas State Directory, "Joe Jaworski," accessed February 12, 2022
↑ Linkedin, "Joe Jaworski," accessed February 12, 2022
↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ Joe Jaworski for Texas Attorney General, “Priorities,” accessed January 25, 2022

[bio-1] Texas State Directory, "Joe Jaworski," accessed February 12, 2022

[bio2-2] Linkedin, "Joe Jaworski," accessed February 12, 2022

[quotedisclaimer-3] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[4] Joe Jaworski for Texas Attorney General, “Priorities,” accessed January 25, 2022

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[2]

[3]

[4]

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Joe Jaworski

Biography

Elections

2026

General election

General election for Attorney General of Texas

Endorsements

2022

General election

General election for Attorney General of Texas

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Attorney General of Texas

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for Attorney General of Texas

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Texas

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Texas

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Attorney General of Texas

Campaign finance

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

2022

Campaign website

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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2026 Elections

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