Texas’ Democratic Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson, who is set to replace Ken Paxton as the state’s top law enforcement official, told MS NOW that he’s ready to carry out a complete overhaul of the office, shifting its focus away from the culture wars of his predecessor to get back to delivering for Texans.

“I am rededicating the office to the purposes for which it was founded,” Johnson said, “and that’s a long time coming.”

Johnson defeated Republican Mayes Middleton for the position after Paxton launched an unsuccessful bid for governor. Since Paxton took office in 2015, Texas had become a national force in conservative legal battles. Paxton filed more than 100 lawsuits against the Biden administration, sued out-of-state doctors accused of mailing abortion pills to Texans and tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

On Tuesday’s “The Weeknight,” Johnson said that under his leadership, the attorney general’s office will return to its intended role as an independent watchdog.

“The framers of the Texas Constitution did not trust concentrated power, so they created this independent office. It is supposed to act as a check on the abuse of power by anyone in the public sector or in the private sector,” he said.

The attorney general-elect argued that Paxton’s office has spent too much time “pursuing culture wars” and not enough on “the fundamentals of consumer protection, commercial markets, antitrust enforcement, working with district attorneys to actually keep streets safe and actually rooting out rather than participating in corruption of all forms.”

Johnson said the attorney general’s office should also confront what he described as the “exploitative nature of where we see the relationship between government and business today.” He pointed to the state’s treatment of wealthy business leaders — such as Elon Musk, who spent massive amounts this election cycle to boost Republican candidates, particularly in Texas.

Johnson, who will become Texas’ first Democratic attorney general in nearly three decades, pledged to hold people accountable regardless of their wealth or influence: “I’m here to do my job, whether it’s Elon Musk or somebody whose name neither I nor anybody else knows.”

“If you are taking advantage of public power for private purposes, I’m coming after you,” he warned. “I’m going to make sure that that doesn’t happen in my state.”

You can watch Johnson’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.

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From MS Now.