Attorney General: Justin Nelson

Ken Paxton - Republican Party: ★

Justin Nelson - Democratic Party: ★★★★

ENDORSEMENTS: The Houston Chronicle editorial board recommends...

ALSO: Why do the candidate endorsements have star ratings?

This is it. This is the race.

The election for attorney general offers the single best reason for a Texas Republican to cross over and vote for a Democratic candidate. You don’t even have to scroll down the burdensome ballot. Right on the front screen in the voting booth you’ll be able to vote the straight ticket for other Republicans and then vote for Justin Nelson. Hit the cast ballot button and you’re done.

Why you’d vote for Nelson is similarly straightforward. He’s an astoundingly qualified attorney who has a nonpartisan focus on ethics, ending gerrymandering and fulfilling the basic duties of the office. Plus, Republican incumbent Ken Paxton is facing felony indictments for fraud, which should automatically disqualify him in the minds of voters.

Valedictorian of his class at Columbia Law, Nelson is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Law School and partner at the Susman Godfrey law firm in Houston. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and founded One Nation One Vote, a nonprofit dedicated to ending gerrymandering. During his endorsement meeting with the Chronicle editorial board, Nelson said he would use the attorney general’s office to continue fighting against the partisan gerrymandering that lets politicians pick their voters, rather than the other way around.

Nelson has also released a four-point plan to improve state ethics, some of which can be done by the attorney general without legislative action.

Although he’s running as a Democrat, Nelson is an independent lawyer dedicated to doing the job well. In fact, he pointed to Republican U.S. Sen John Cornyn as a model of someone who had served well as state attorney general.

Meanwhile, Paxton has been a model of the worst possible attorney general.

He’s the sort of politician who makes you wish Texas had a Lone Star version of “Saturday Night Live” to mock the fact that our state’s top lawman is facing two charges for felony investment fraud and another count of failing to register as an investment adviser. Paxton allegedly didn’t reveal he was being paid to solicit clients for a North Texas investment firm, which the law requires to help prevent fraud.

The former state representative and state senator successfully postponed his trial until after the election. It is worth noting, however, that Paxton has already admitted to soliciting investors without registering and paid a $1,000 fine to the state securities board. Or, to put it bluntly, he effectively confessed to a third-degree felony. No one should be above the law, but Paxton seems determined to try.

His ethical lapses don’t end there. Paxton once accepted a $1 million loan from the right-wing Empower Texans advocacy group — his largest political donor — and now refuses to defend the Texas Ethics Commission from the group’s attacks. It’s hard not to see a quid pro quo that puts campaign donors ahead of the public good.

He also was once caught stealing another lawyer's $1,000 pen.

Paxton has been using his office to pursue a quixotic political agenda that even members of his own party question. For example, he’s leading a lawsuit that would eliminate the preexisting conditions protections of the Affordable Care Act. If Paxton succeeds, more than 4 million Texans could be denied coverage.

Beyond his own legal problems, Paxton is simply doing a bad job as attorney general. He doesn’t aggressively go after crooked payday lenders or exploitive nursing homes. His campaign website still touts how he’s going to sue the Obama administration — a policy agenda two years out of date.

While Nelson is stumping across the state to get Texans to pay attention to this often ignored position, Paxton is hiding away, apparently hoping straight-ticket voting will carry him to victory. He refuses to face his fellow Texans in person, instead appearing on Fox News like some modern-day Max Headroom who exists exclusively within the four corners of the television screen.

Nelson probably can’t win without some crossover support from Republicans, but there’s plenty of good reasons for regular red-state voters to back him.

Joe Straus Republicans should vote for Nelson because he’s willing to defend the Texas Ethics Commission from Empower Texans.

Libertarian-style Republicans should vote for Nelson because he’s willing to target government power and break the partisan gerrymandering system. It’s worth noting that the man who spearheaded investigations into Paxton, Ty Clevenger, considers himself part of the “Rand Paul strain of the GOP.”

The people of Texas already know their attorney general has admitted to being a lawbreaker. The question is whether to give him another term in office.

Nelson offers a refreshing vision of how the attorney general can truly be a lawyer for the people. He deserves your vote.