Civil Rights Attorney Lee Merritt Launches Campaign Against Ken Paxton for Texas Attorney General

Lee Merritt, the nationally known civil rights attorney, is officially running for Texas attorney general as a Democrat.

Merritt launched his campaign Tuesday morning with an emphasis on the voting rights battle that prompted state House Democrats to flee the state Monday.

“Texas Republicans have launched an all-out assault on voter rights and civil liberties,” Merritt said in a statement, adding that incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton and other GOP leaders are “blatantly attempting to turn back progress in the Lone Star State using the familiar tactics of voter suppression, divisive rhetoric and corporate money.”

“This campaign is a response from the people of Texas,” Merritt said.

Merritt said in March that he would run for attorney general but would make a formal announcement at a later date.

Merritt, who lives in the Dallas area, is nationally recognized for his representation of families of Black people killed by police, including serving as co-counsel for George Floyd’s family. Among the Texans he has advocated for are Botham Jean, the Dallas man shot dead by an off-duty cop in his apartment in 2018.

Merritt’s campaign announcement will come on the heels of the House Democrats leaving Texas for Washington, D.C., in a bid to deny the quorum for the House to vote on Republicans’ priority elections bill. The House is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. for the first time since Democrats bolted from the state.

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SOURCE: The Texas Tribune, Patrick Svitek