Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to move his felony securities fraud case from Harris County back to Collin County where it originated, highlighting the political forces that have swirled around the case since its inception.

Paxton’s ties to Collin County officials were a factor in who is prosecuting the case and where the case is being heard. Intervention from another of his supporters has helped delay the case for nearly four years, with no end in sight.

Paxton, who was re-elected in November, was indicted in 2015 by a grand jury in Collin County after being charged with two counts of first-degree felony securities fraud and a third-degree felony for failing to register with the state as an investment adviser. The two-term attorney general has maintained his innocence and called the case a witch hunt.

Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University who has studied the case, said a return to Collin County would be a big win for Paxton.

“If it gets moved back to Collin County, that certainly is advantageous for Paxton for two reasons: One, it’s more likely to go to a Republican judge as opposed to a Democratic judge in Harris County,” Jones said. “And any jury pool is going to be much more sympathetic to Paxton in Collin versus Harris.”

Jones said at the rate this case has proceeded, it could drag on beyond Paxton’s potential re-election campaign in 2022.

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It was Paxton’s political influence that led a judge to move the case to Harris County in the first place. In 2017, the judge sided with prosecutors who argued that they could not receive a fair trial in the county where many of Paxton’s friends and political allies live and hold positions of power.

Paxton’s prominence impacted the case even before it began. With just a complaint filed against Paxton and an investigation imminent, the Collin County district attorney recused himself because of their personal relationship, and an administrative judge had to appoint special prosecutors.

Now, Paxton’s lawyers — who fought the initial change of venue — are again arguing that he doesn’t have any sway over public opinion in Collin County.

“The Special Prosecutors’ change of venue motion focused on blogs, media, and Facebook posts, all of which is now well over two years old—and largely from the fall of 2016,” Paxton’s attorney Philip Hilder wrote in court documents filed Monday. “There has been little public attention on this case since.”

Hilder also wrote that while special prosecutors characterized Paxton as Collin County’s “favorite son” and pointed to the 66 percent of the vote he earned in the county in the 2014 election as proof of his popularity, the 2018 election results show he lost support. That year, he won with about 53 percent of the vote.

“This drop in support is due, in no insignificant part, to negative media attention caused by the Special Prosecutors’ frivolous charges against him,” Hilder wrote.

Anthony Drumheller, the attorney representing the special prosecutors in the case, did not respond to a request for comment.

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Paxton’s lawyers also argued that Harris County court system is already overburdened. In addition, they argue that Judge George Gallagher exceeded his authority in changing the venue in the first place because his temporary assignment to the case had expired months before he made the decision.

When Gallagher decided to move the case, he warned of an “ethical problem” after reviewing an invitation to a 2013 Paxton fundraiser that he reviewed. The event was held at the home of one of Paxton’s key allies and sponsored by four of five then-members of the Collin County Commissioners Court.

The defense argued that such events are typical for elected officials of the same party to attend regardless of whether they have a personal relationship.

Three of the four Commissioners Court members who hosted the event remain on the court today.

One of the issues holding up the case could be settled soon. A Dallas-based Paxton donor sued over the special prosecutors’ pay in 2015, prompting a legal battle that made its way to appellate court. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals seemingly put that issue to rest last month when it declined to reconsider an earlier ruling invalidating their $300-an-hour rate.

Last week, the special prosecutors requested in a court filing that Harris County District Judge Robert Johnson make the final call on how much they should be paid.

Johnson has yet to respond to that request, or the request from Paxton’s lawyers to change the venue again. Meanwhile, the facts of the case have yet to be heard.