“I’m excited to forgo seeking a sixth term in the Texas House to run for Texas Attorney General for the next four years,” Krause told The Texan. “I want Texas to have a faithful conservative fighter in that position who will look out and fight for the interest and liberties of Texans all over the state.”
“This is the result of a lot of prayer, thought, and consideration, not only by me but by my family. And we’ve come to a sense of feeling like this is the right thing to do and we’re excited about this next step.”
Krause joins a field of other candidates in the Republican primary race for the position that includes incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.
While Bush and Guzman launched their challenges to Paxton earlier this summer, Krause said he didn’t enter the race earlier because he was assessing “whether there was a need or an interest for another entrant to get into the field.”
“The more we talked to folks — whether it’s grassroots activists, whether it be donors, or other elected officials — we came to the conclusion that there was a need and an interest for a fourth person to get into that race, a faithful conservative fighter who they could really get behind,” said Krause.
“I think, in regards to the other challengers, Texas Republican primary voters are looking for somebody who’s proven in the fight to have a record of conservative victories and conservative fighting efforts.”
Krause worked as an attorney leading the Texas office of a national nonprofit constitutional litigation firm until 2012, when he was first elected to the state legislature for House District (HD) 93.
Some of the cases that he said he worked on in that role included defending the free speech rights of a student in Fort Worth and defending another client who was accused of counterfeiting by the federal government because of handing out gospel tracts of the “million dollar question.”
“We went toe to toe with the federal government and prevailed and vindicated not only our client’s rights but set a great precedent going forward for free speech and religious liberty,” said Krause.
If elected to the position, he said that some of the issues he expects to face would include battles to defend redistricting, the Texas GOP’s recently approved election integrity bill, the Heartbeat Act, and the energy sector.
“There are so many issues that we’ll have to be on the watch for and have to be on the lookout for in order to protect Texans’ liberties, protect Texans’ rights,” said Krause.
“That’s going to be the job of the attorney general for the next four years, and I think you have to have that faithful conservative fighter who does that and I think as we get our message out to the people of Texas, it will resonate.”
Krause and the rest of the Texas legislature is expected to meet next week in a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott to begin work on the redistricting process.
His district, HD 93, was the fastest growing seat over the past decade in Tarrant County, with a population of about 27,000 above the ideal district size.
Whatever his district ends up looking like at the end of the process, Krause says that he hopes “another staple conservative fighter just like we’re trying to be at the AG level” will succeed him.
“Whoever takes the House seat in House District 93, I hope they’re committed to the same conservative principles and causes that I have the last decade, and that they will work every day to promote those and fight for those in the Texas House.”
When redistricting is completed could also determine when the primary election will be held that Krause and the rest of the candidates in the state will participate in, as a bill was recently approved that could slate the election for the standard date in March or as late as the end of May.
In addition to a field of several well-known politicians in the Republican primary, a few Democrats are running for the position including civil rights attorney Lee Merritt and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski.
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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.
