On November 9, Gohmert told the public that if he raised $1 million in 10 days he would join the race that’s already crowded with three other high-profile challengers to Paxton: Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, and state Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth).
But November 19 came and went without any word from the East Texas representative.
Gohmert was scheduled for an appearance on the Mark Davis Show, but despite Davis’s attempts to get him on the line, Gohmert never called in.
The same day, the House approved another version of the Democrats’ priority spending bill. Gohmert voted against the measure, but did so by proxy — a mechanism that was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, the congressman tweeted from his campaign account that he would have an “announcement video later today.”
Throughout Monday on his official account, Gohmert repeatedly tweeted, “Welcome to DC: A world where anime videos are condemned,” contrasting Rep. Paul Gosar’s (R-AZ) recent censure over an anime video he shared (wherein Gosar’s face was superimposed on a character’s face who killed another character with the face of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez superimposed in a brief clip) with the words and actions of others who did not face backlash from Democrats.
Then on Monday evening, Gohmert released an announcement video in which he said he had reached his goal of raising $1 million.
Like the other candidates running against the incumbent, Gohmert expressed concerns about Paxton’s viability in the general election given the close race he had in 2018 and the new allegations that were raised by several senior aides since then.
Gohmert suggested that Paxton, who was reportedly being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, could potentially face an indictment after the primary election in March. In such a scenario, Republicans would likely not be able to remove Paxton’s name from the ballot in the general election.
State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) said that he was considering running for the 1st Congressional District (TX-01) after Gohmert began exploring a bid for attorney general, but decided to file for reelection to the Texas legislature instead.
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Daniel Friend
Daniel Friend is the Marketing and Media Manager for The Texan. After graduating with a double-major in Political Science and Humanities, he wrote for The Texan as a reporter through June 2022. In his spare time, you're likely to find him working on The Testimony of Calvin Lewis, an Abolition of Man-inspired novel and theatrical podcast.
