Justin Nelson is the sole Democrat buying TV ads in a campaign for Texas state office

Democrat Justin Nelson, left, is running for attorney general against Republican incumbent Ken Paxton. >>See what Nelson, Paxton and other candidates are focusing on in the midterm election... Democrat Justin Nelson, left, is running for attorney general against Republican incumbent Ken Paxton. >>See what Nelson, Paxton and other candidates are focusing on in the midterm election... Photo: Houston Chronicle And Handout Photos / Houston Chronicle And Handout Photos Photo: Houston Chronicle And Handout Photos / Houston Chronicle And Handout Photos Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Justin Nelson is the sole Democrat buying TV ads in a campaign for Texas state office 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — Attorney Justin Nelson, a candidate for attorney general, on Tuesday became the first — and likely only — Democrat running for state office to go on TV with a Texas-wide campaign ad.

Nelson’s 30-second spot now on air across Texas hammers incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton for his 2015 criminal indictment for securities fraud and a subsequent 2017 investigation into bribery and corruption that was closed after prosecutors decided not to pursue any charges against him. Paxton has yet to go to trial on three felony charges from the 2015 indictment.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Texas Attorney General’s delayed fraud trial is now Exhibit A in re-election bid

Paxton, a Republican finishing his first term, released his own ad Monday. Paxton’s campaign spot features his office cracking down on human trafficking to make Texas safer. That includes helping shut down Backpage.com, a website that hosted prostitution-related ads. Paxton’s spokesman said the ad is on air, including in the Houston market.

Paxton has been fighting the securities fraud case for three years, and says he expects to prevail in court.

RELATED: See Nelson’s ad here .

RELATED: See Paxton’s ad here .

Nelson, in his first campaign for office, has raised more than any other Democratic contender for a state office in Texas, with $2.2 million since 2017, according to records filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. That’s nearly double the campaign funding of Democratic candidate for governor Lupe Valdez. Summer polling showed Nelson was virtually tied with Paxton, although no new polling has been released on that race.

Paxton has a major financial advantage over Nelson. Paxton has $4.3 million in his political war chest to carry him through the remaining weeks before the Nov. 6 election. Nelson has $1.7 million to spend.

Republicans in statewide office have raised 12 times more than Democrats have this election cycle. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas in more than 20 years.

andrea.zelinski@chron.com