AUSTIN, Texas — Another Republican candidate is throwing his hat in the ring to become the next Texas attorney general.

State Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, announced his bid for the position in a post on X on Tuesday.

His announcement comes after Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his bid to challenge Sen. John Cornyn’s seat in the U.S. Senate, leaving the attorney general position vacant.

"As Attorney General, I will join President Trump in his efforts to return America and Texas to common sense and to fight to secure the border, ensure law and order, and be tough on crime," Middleton said in a press release.

Middleton is an attorney, the president of an oil and gas company and runs farming and livestock operations. He represents District 11 in the Texas Senate, which spans most of Galveston and Brazoria counties and some of Harris County.

Middleton’s campaign announcement comes one week after former U.S. attorney and Elon Musk’s lawyer John Bash launched his own bid for attorney general. Bash, who is also running as a Republican, served as a special assistant and associate counsel under the first Trump administration and was a federal prosecutor for Texas’ Western District.

Bash welcomed Middleton to the race in his own social post, but criticized him over past opposition to Paxton. In 2022, Middleton donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to two of the attorney general’s primary challengers, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune.