Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 17: Joe Jaworski on Reclaiming the Texas AG Office
115 Plays17 days ago
In this episode, we’re joined by Joe Jaworski, candidate for Texas Attorney General and former Mayor of Galveston, for a wide-ranging conversation about what the Texas AG actually does — and what the office could do if Democrats take it back.
We talk about:
- Joe's immigrant family history
- How power really works in Texas government — and how the AG can be an independent check
- Jaworski’s case for a new “Division of Affordability” at the AG’s office to protect Texans as ratepayers, consumers, parents, and policyholders
- The reality of running statewide as a working person — and what needs to change
- The 2030 redistricting “big moment,” young voters, and one under-enforced law that could register hundreds of thousands of new voters through Texas high schools
If you care about the future of Texas politics — and the 2030/2032 map that could decide the country — this is the episode.
👉 Subscribe for weekly conversations on how to flip Texas
👉 Follow @MissionTexasPodcast on all socials
👉 Share this episode with one friend who cares about flipping Texas
📩 Email us: missiontexaspodcast@gmail.com
#MissionTexas #TexasPolitics #TXAG #KenPaxton #VotingRights #Redistricting #TexasDemocrats #Election2026 #Election2030 #CivicEngagement #PublicEducation #ConsumerProtection
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Mission Texas
00:00:00
Speaker
Howdy. This is Mission Texas. A political podcast about winning Texas by 2032 or else we may lose the White House for a generation. I'm one of your hosts, Alex Clark.
00:00:13
Speaker
And I am Kate Rumsey. Other podcasts may focus on the day-to-day or the next election. But we are keeping the eyes of Texas on the bigger prize. What happens after the next census?
00:00:26
Speaker
Hi, and welcome back to another exciting episode of
Who is Joe Jaworski?
00:00:29
Speaker
Mission Texas. Here today with us is Joe Jaworski, candidate for attorney general. ah Again, a University of Texas School of Law graduate like myself.
00:00:42
Speaker
He is the former mayor of Galveston. ah He is a longtime Democratic Party activist and fundraiser, and we're just so grateful to have him here with us. Welcome.
00:00:53
Speaker
Thank you, Alex and Kate. Really pleased to be on your legendary show. I mean it. Wow, legendary. Thank you so much. Yeah. We're trying. well Well, I have to just start here because I'm i'm really into origin stories as a big nerd, ah Marvel Comics and and and
Jaworski's Family Legacy and Career Path
00:01:11
Speaker
but and the like. um I like to know where people come from and what got them to where where they're at. um But I feel like for you, I have to go even further back than...
00:01:21
Speaker
your urgent story because you have such a for people like us for attorneys you have such a famous last name here in texas i actually had a summer clerkship at norton rose fulbright but no one in texas calls it norton rose fulbright they call it fulbright because they know fulbright and jaworski so can you tell us a little bit about your family for those of us listeners who are not lawyers already plugged into who Leon Jaworski was. Can you can you tell him first tell us first about him?
00:01:52
Speaker
Oh, Alex, thank you for that. Yeah, no, we're immigrants. The Jaworski family came to America in 1902. ah And Josef Jaworski, who I am named after, was studying for the Catholic priesthood in Poland.
00:02:07
Speaker
But near Krakow and became of the opinion that the pope was less than honorable, and he spoke out against that. He was chased off from the Catholic Church.
00:02:20
Speaker
ah The bishop had his best interests at heart and said, you need to leave now. And so he went to Germany and became a Lutheran minister um and had two children with his beautiful wife, Maria, um who was a lady in waiting to the Austrian queen.
00:02:35
Speaker
And they then got on a steamer from Bremen and went to Baltimore in 1902 with two of their children, Yosef and Hannibal.
00:02:46
Speaker
ah They then moved to near Seguin, Texas. uh where joseph became the minister at freedom's church he's buried there uh in what used to be geronimo texas but is now sagim and he and maria had leon jaworski their third child and maria their fourth they spoke german uh as children in the household um leon as we know now would go on to be the youngest attorney ever licensed by the state bar of texas he literally had to um
00:03:21
Speaker
advocate before the Texas Supreme Court to have his disability removed, which was his minority, his age. And they granted it because they were so impressed with with his disability.
00:03:32
Speaker
oratory. His brother Hannibal was a noted surgeon who was educated at Baylor Medical School, just like Leon was at Baylor Law School. So we've always had a close connection with the Baylor family.
00:03:44
Speaker
Well, my father was born in the 30s. ah He became a lawyer. I was born in 1962, and I'm a lawyer, third generation Texas lawyer. So thank you for letting me speak briefly about ah Leon's background. A very humble beginning, dirt floors,
00:03:59
Speaker
of following his father in horse-drawn carriages throughout the hill country where he would be paid to minister to various churches. um ah And so it is an immigrant story. And anytime the outrage about what immigration means to Texas, i always like to start with that.
00:04:17
Speaker
um It wasn't that long ago my family came over on a boat and it takes a generation or two and you are immediately accepted. Well, let's go back to the original generation and let's remember what made America great.
00:04:33
Speaker
So I like to tell that story. And we are a nation of immigrants and my family's no exception. You know, it's so interesting because I think a lot of Texans are ah coming here for the same reasons your family came here. And like my grandfather from Chicago came to Dallas area to find a better life. And then on my dad's side, I'm an eighth generation Texan and I have a ancestor who came here, Stephen F. Austin with the Old 3800. So what are what is the common denominator with everybody? Is that
00:05:04
Speaker
We have a lot of people coming here who might not otherwise have any connection to each other, but are trying to find opportunity. and I think your, just from my opinion, is a very incredible story.
00:05:15
Speaker
ah But let's get to you. i mean, how did and you just said you were a lawyer? So what you went to law school, hook and horns. Both my brothers went there. So, yay. ah What happened next?
Legal Career and Establishing a Law Firm
00:05:26
Speaker
Like, how how did you get into the legal profession?
00:05:28
Speaker
Well, and it was detoured. So let me start by saying when I was six years old, I saw my first drum set and I was i was impressed with that. So I have been a drummer my whole life, haveve played in a number of bands.
00:05:41
Speaker
and And so, you know, the the way i I want to tell this story is, you know, I i i did the right thing as a a kid, you know, from a family who appreciated education. I made it through high school, went to college and was accepted to law school. it was all working out, Kate.
00:05:57
Speaker
And and I happened to see REM play before anyone knew who they were at my college bar in Davidson, North Carolina in 1983 before their first album came out. And I said, ah yeah, that's what I'm going to do. And so um instead of going to law school, I called the dean and I told him, hey, dean, I'd like to take a year off.
00:06:19
Speaker
Well, that year became four years. And so I played and managed a recording and touring band out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina called Other Bright Colors.
00:06:29
Speaker
And, ah you know, our we were rescued from anonymity some years ago when our two albums were put on Apple iTunes and Spotify. So you can check Other Bright Colors out.
00:06:40
Speaker
You might come to the opinion that, Joe, you made the right call go going to law school. But, you know, whatever your opinion is on the music it was definitely of its time uh but yeah you're right kate i went to law school in 88 a few years later than planned but i met my wife within three weeks and we were engaged at the end of our first year married at our second year and we graduated university of texas law school two together as husband and wife and we've been married 35 years um got into maritime law i had a fabulous clerkship
00:07:13
Speaker
with an Eisenhower appointed federal judge by the name of John r Brown. who was the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. By the time I worked for him,
00:07:25
Speaker
He was 81 years old and was clearly senior status, but just a legend. And so he would go ride the circuit is what they talked about. So I actually had opportunity to sit, ah you know, at the at the feet of a great jurist, Stephen Breyer, when he was on the first circuit.
00:07:45
Speaker
and And before he ah ascended to the Supreme Court and got to write opinions on that panel with my colleagues, and they were all from Boston and I love Boston. um So so did maritime law for six years, then went to plaintiff's law and had a great period with.
00:08:02
Speaker
the Busbee law firm, where I handled a pretty significant caseload and learned a lot about doing hard work fast and a lot at the same time.
00:08:12
Speaker
Then I started my own law firm, the Jaworski law firm in 2007. And then by 2012, I became a full time mediator and it has been off to the races ever since.
Judiciary System Concerns in Texas
00:08:23
Speaker
oh was just going to say, we we actually share the ah federal clerkship experience, the three of us. um Yeah. um I think it's... My judge was a Clinton appointee, and she just retired, so... That's fabulous.
00:08:36
Speaker
Mine was a George W. Bush appointee and and retired a little bit before hers, so... Well, you know, and the beauty of it is, is is even though lot of people make pardons and comment about the federal judiciary, you know, the the the framers and and the founders had it right when they...
00:08:52
Speaker
decided to depoliticize the federal judiciary. Now, whether people want to have a talk about, you know, age limits and all that, that's for another conversation. But I do love those great stories where, you know, people like appoint someone like David Souter and then they're like, oh, he's exercising his own discretion. yeah Exactly. That's like one of those little mystery, you know, like what's behind curtain three, you know?
00:09:15
Speaker
And and so I do appreciate the federal judiciary. We have that right now. um You know, a Trump appointee, ah Jeff Brown, in the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division. And he's come out with two major redistricting opinions, one of which I was a witness in.
00:09:32
Speaker
discussing my experience as mayor of Galveston on the question of coalitions. um And he is a very thoughtful jurist. And, you know, people want to say all Trump judges are, you know, incredible and beyond the pale. Not not true.
00:09:47
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, not to be controversial for controversy's sake, but I I've said this for a long time and will continue to is that I think that we shouldn't be electing judges.
00:09:58
Speaker
And for the same reasons, I think the federal judiciary works well. I think we ought to have some sort of system that is akin to it, because at the very least, you have more skin in the game by people who are getting more attention.
00:10:12
Speaker
I think judges are so far down on the ballot that they're um on honestly just not registering a lot of voters minds, at least if a governor or a county judge, perhaps, is the person making the appointment and then they has to go through some sort of confirmation process with the commissioners or the the Texas Senate or whatever.
00:10:31
Speaker
um I think there are other politically ambitious people who want to do the homework and find something wrong with this person and make make a lot of hay at it. So there's a lot of pressure on whoever's doing the appointing to make sure quality people are are making it there.
Political Origins and Campaign Reflections
00:10:45
Speaker
Well, exactly. And it's interesting you should say that because, you know, former Attorney General John Hill from when you know I was young, um he was a big advocate in later years for appointing jurists in Texas.
00:11:00
Speaker
What's interesting is the way Greg Abbott and the Republican machine that has been in charge for the last 30 years have handled matters. is there is a essentially an appointment process that has somewhat overridden our usual elections i mean there still have to be elections but you know what i'm talking about yeah you know there's a musical chairs if you will where abbott ah finds a opening somewhere on a higher court and then he elevates that person from the district court or if it's to the Supreme Court from the Intermediate Court of Appeals and then appoints one of the you know favored attorneys, ah whoever, whether it's from funding or ideology.
00:11:41
Speaker
and And so there has been an appointment process. And of course, then what's better than that? let's create a whole 15th Court of Appeals and a business court system and all all' them too. you know um But in 2020... Unlike the federal system, there's no advice and consent from the Senate. It's just he gets to plug them in, right?
00:11:59
Speaker
yeah You are correct. And and you know again, to tie something back, that is exactly a perfect comeback, Alex, because the advice and consent power, constitutional as it is, is so important. May I remind people of the Edward Kennedy involvement with Robert Bork, you know, which takes us back to Watergate, which takes us back to my grandfather.
00:12:21
Speaker
You know, Bork was the one who happily ah fired Archibald Cox when no one else would do it. And then, you know, that was in 73. three And of course, when it was his time to be nominated by Ronald Reagan, Edward Kennedy was like, oh, yeah, let me ask a few questions.
00:12:41
Speaker
Great stuff. Great stuff. your Your background and your family is just so steeped in our history. I love it. um So, I mean, can we get back to maybe your political origins, going back to our fun Marvel origin analogy? ah Like, where how did you get into politics? Like, why did you do it? i don't know a lot of us are crazy, right? Like, we get, they're like, why did you why would you want to do this? Okay, so, you know,
00:13:05
Speaker
It's a lot. It's silly to begin this way, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I mean, I was into student politics. I mean, I I ran for student council in my high school. I served as student council president. OK, big deal.
00:13:17
Speaker
I did not do that in college, but I loved it, you know. And um then when I was at law school, I thought, well I'll run for the student and advisory committee or whatever. And my dear friend Barrett Reasoner beat me. OK, so that's fine. I gave that up and I got into mock trial and moot court because I was a solid B student. My wife was an A student. I mean, she literally would not go to class, use my notes and then get a better grade on the test.
00:13:45
Speaker
It's so unfair, but um my calling card when I was trying to get jobs was moot court mock trial. So I had no ambition to run for anything in the first, let's say, 10 years of being a lawyer.
00:13:59
Speaker
So, Kate, you ask, how did it all begin? I'll tell you. It was my realtor, my wife's and my realtor, David Bowers in Galveston, Texas. He sold us our house. In 95, we moved in.
00:14:12
Speaker
I was now a plaintiff's lawyer. We had no money because I didn't know what I was doing. ah we were We were literally living on frugal you know ah fumes. And he comes to me, David does, and says, hey, I'm term limited for Galveston City Council. I'm going run for mayor. You ought to run for my seat.
00:14:30
Speaker
And, you know, there's a lot of stories like this where you're like, man, that'll, that'll help me focus. I'll, I'll do it. Well, i I loved my neighborhood. I'd already been a community organizer. I had already, you know, sued the city for neighborhood issues that we thought we were being treated unfair. So I was already kind of involved in Galveston. So my origin story is that my realtor recommended I run for city council and I did, and I won and, and I have, uh,
00:14:57
Speaker
had the public service bug. And I hope you take that in the kindest way because it's meant that way. um We have too many people doing this for a job or for their own, ah you know, buoyancy in society or anything.
00:15:12
Speaker
To me, it is something that ought to hurt a little bit. You ought not to do it. ah You ought to do it for all the right reasons, which is to serve people, not serve yourself. And that's been my mantra ever since. And that's what I'm doing running for attorney general.
00:15:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's so well said. I mean, servant leadership, ah yeah, it should it should cost something. It should not be the best gig you can get, right? Like, I get frustrated not to harp on that. I'll harp on just one more time, the whole elected judges thing. Like, if if being elected as ah as a judge in Texas is the best job that you can get, like for like the money, or because you like the prestige of it, you probably shouldn't be in that job.
00:15:54
Speaker
I agree. And, and you know, or or do it for a little while and make room for someone else. That's a whole other thing that I think we've talked about sort of impliedly this.
00:16:04
Speaker
I'm going to make a career out of this. You can't knock me out. Well, that I just want to say right now, I'm a huge fan of term limits. OK, I didn't pick it, but I walked into a situation in Galveston that had a six year term limit.
00:16:17
Speaker
I served it. Yay for me. I got reelected three times and then it was over and someone else served and they did a fine job. And it's been so long that other people have served and they've done a fine job.
00:16:29
Speaker
It ought to be a collective thing. um And no one ought to get too comfortable that they think this is my kingdom and you're going to have to knock me off the mountain. which is, of course, what we're dealing with yeah in Texas. Well, and in the White House. I know. We have governor who won't go away ah in Republicans. Yeah. i mean, well, so I wanted to ask, though, like after being mayor of Galveston, you also, i believe it was four years ago, right, that you ran for AG.
00:16:54
Speaker
ah You got to the runoff, which is great. i mean, that was a crowded field, right? So can you speak to that race, especially as you look back on what happened and what it took to do a statewide race back then?
Strategies for Attorney General Campaign
00:17:07
Speaker
Because I imagine running for city council mayor is vastly different than a statewide. yeah I had to do it.
00:17:16
Speaker
Yeah. So I remember ah listening to one of Trump's COVID updates. Remember how he used to get up there with, you know, Dr. Fauci and tell us all how it was and, you know, we're going to put bleach on our veins or whatever. Well, I think it might've been that press conference where i was like, that's it.
00:17:34
Speaker
I've got to get involved in office again. Now that was the summer of 2020 roughly. So this would have been eight years after I left the mayor's office. And my mediation practice was robust.
00:17:46
Speaker
um We had just started the Zoom protocol because I was flying five days a week to different cities and sometimes out of the country to mediate my niche practice that I do, which is the Defense Base Act, which is injury cases sustained by military contractors injured in the war on terror.
00:18:09
Speaker
And military contractor can be, you know, someone carrying a weapon or someone preparing meals and doing laundry. That's what contractors are. There are hundreds of thousands of them. But the point I want to make here is I got involved, thankfully, because I had a Zoom practice that would allow me to run for office. I know we're going to talk a little bit about how difficult it is to run for the average working human being, which is what we need more of in government.
00:18:33
Speaker
But for me, it was coming back from an eight year hiatus after being mayor. And I thought I've always been a lawyer. You know, my grandfather never ran for public office, but he served, you know, as a special counsel, as a Watergate prosecutor. He was even the um Senate legal advisor to the um ah Lieutenant Governor Hobby, ah the impeachment trial prior to Ken Paxton's.
00:19:04
Speaker
um and and put a lot of precedent into the bloodstream of impeachment law in the state of Texas. So I always thought, you know, state government would be something that we could use a Democrat. And finally, let me finish by saying, last I checked in, when I thought about state government was when my wife and I were about to graduate law school, and I happened to be shopping at the Fresh Plus at 43rd and Duval, near where we lived during law school. And there was Governor Ann Richards.
00:19:34
Speaker
So, you know, my impression of state government upon becoming a professional was, well, these these are sober people who have our best interests at heart. And, you know, they're all Democrats, by the way.
00:19:45
Speaker
um And then, um you know, now we're pining for the days of George W. Bush as as governor. Well, ah ah hey, Texas, what happened? So so I decided to run for state office because things have fallen so far.
00:20:01
Speaker
Oh, well, Kate, that was four years ago. How quaint. Now things are literally on fire. I mean, there's fire everywhere. I know, especially this week, as I mean, we're recording this after Venezuela, after all these shootings and ice and I get so many text messages from people saying like, I don't know how I can do it anymore. I don't know if I can be in politics. i Should I be in politics or should I just get out? And that's my feeling. Like I'm either all in or i need to be out just to save my mindset. So but you're all in, right? Like you're all in on this race. So, but I guess going back to my question, I mean, what are your reflections on the last race? Like in
00:20:38
Speaker
How are you? Are you doing anything differently? Are you doing it the same? Like, do you see it differently? Because this is now a Trump midterm. That wasn't a Trump midterm. that I was going to start with that. So it was a Biden mid midterm, the 22 cycle versus a Trump midterm. Absolutely different oxygen level.
00:20:57
Speaker
um You'll recall. And I started too early, to be fair. Yeah. OK. I just told you my reaction to that last Trump midterm. press conference.
00:21:08
Speaker
But, you know, you shouldn't start a campaign, uh, first off without a, an announcement, you shouldn't start a campaign that, that early, but I did. Um, and you know, people hadn't heard from me in a long time. So everyone was so happy to hear from me. They gave me a bunch of money. Uh, I spent a lot of it early. Um, and, uh, what I'll contrast now is in the 26 cycle, um, you know, I, my ears, uh,
00:21:34
Speaker
perked up when Paxton got impeached in 23. And there was a slight chance, you know, that he would be convicted. And then there'd be a snap election. As you know, the election code would allow for such if his absence were made real by a conviction. But it didn't happen that way.
00:21:53
Speaker
So I kind of went back into slumber. And then in the summer of 25, July, here's the difference. You know, we we had a wonderful website to start with, an actual campaign launch video, which I will ask people to go see at Jaworski4Texas.com that details one of the many maritime injury death cases that I handled as an example of the level of care I would bring to the state and all 32 million of us.
00:22:23
Speaker
as attorney general we did a launch interview with progress texas all the issues that you see on the landing page of my website are actual sort of re reformatting of my notes for that interview with chris mosser one of our colleagues um and uh you know i think Back 22, Dobbs was a ah decision that was leaked and then ah published, and that played to my colleague Rochelle Garza's strengths, um and I was an afterthought.
00:23:01
Speaker
This time, there are three of us rather than five. I am clearly the progressive choice in this race, and I am letting everybody know about it.
00:23:12
Speaker
And I think that that meets the moment because this is no time for discussing a record reaching across the barbed wire to shake hands with MAGA.
00:23:24
Speaker
That is not what's on order. We need to defeat them all in as big a numbers as possible. And then when Democrats are restored to a sober leadership role in the state of Texas, like they were when I graduated law school, they can compromise with us.
00:23:41
Speaker
They can compromise with us. Amen. I'm curious before we we move away from your background, it's interesting to see what each of the candidates brings. You all have really interesting lives just professionally.
00:23:53
Speaker
um As a mayor, you were the executive of a town. the I understand the attorney general's office is kind of like its own independent executive office. are there parallels between a mayor's office and attorney general's office and how so? Because they're not, strictly speaking, the same kind of work, right? Like one is running a city, one is like chief top law enforcement.
00:24:15
Speaker
um Right. And and here's here's how I... prioritize my experience as mayor as helpful in making a decision to support me for attorney general. First off in Galveston, we have a city manager a form of government, not like Houston where the mayor is the executive of everything. In fact, Galveston was the first to come up with the city manager paradigm.
00:24:38
Speaker
Um, but on the sole question that really defined my two year term as mayor, which was public housing. and the rebuilding of public housing with disaster funds from housing and urban development.
00:24:52
Speaker
The Texas government code appoints the mayor as the sole decider and decision maker on how to staff a housing authority. And when HUD in this rare occasion, gave a billion dollars to the city of Galveston to rebuild.
00:25:10
Speaker
HUD communicates with the highest elected official, not the appointed city manager. And that is in their rules and protocol. So the leader ah of of HUD, Sean Donovan, would appoint executive vice leaders who would contact me regularly.
00:25:27
Speaker
on progress And so that's one thing I'd like to say. Attorney General is fascinating because it is, as you say, Alex, an independent executive officer. It's a lawyer, to be sure.
00:25:39
Speaker
But when the 1876 Texas Constitution was written, this was not long after ah Reconstruction. And so there was this desire to disperse power.
00:25:51
Speaker
ah in what we would call the executive branch of government so that nobody could tell Texas what to do again. And of course, Greg Abbott is abusing that. um But the beauty of it is, is the Texas attorney general does not answer to the governor.
00:26:05
Speaker
Doesn't answer dan Patrick either. um It is an independent executive authority for 32 million Texans. And it has been abused in so many ways that we don't have time to discuss it. But the greatest abuse is that Ken Paxton has turned it into a persecutor for the Republican Party of Texas.
00:26:26
Speaker
And that's why people should vote for a Democrat. And of course, they should vote for Joe Jaworski to be that Democrat. And we will change the Office of Attorney General to what it should be, which is an attorney for the whole state of Texas.
00:26:41
Speaker
Everybody, you know, talking about the executive as an AG, I i'm imagining it's a lot of law enforcement, but there is within the AG's office, they do a lot with Medicaid.
Role and Vision for Attorney General's Office
00:26:53
Speaker
I understand they do a lot with um child custody arrangements and CPS, I imagine is involved. Like, so how do you see the role as AG as it fits within the life of a Texan? Like, how do you represent Texans and how do you improve their life through that office?
00:27:10
Speaker
Okay. Thank you for that question. I have re-imagined what the Office of Attorney General can do for Texas. First off, it is, I think the largest executive agency, over 4,000 staff employees.
00:27:24
Speaker
um it It has 800 or so lawyers, largest law firm in the state of Texas. um It has over a billion dollar budget each biennium.
00:27:34
Speaker
So you have lots of resources. um Yes, there are statutory things you say, and you're correct. you know Child support, you're in charge of Medicaid fraud. Why can't there be new divisions when a new person, a Democrat this time, leads the office? I would tell you that the number one thing that government should do, and I'm referring back to Bobby Kennedy, the night Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, he spoke in Indianapolis and he said, let us dedicate o ourselves to the proposition that government should tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.
00:28:14
Speaker
Well, that's the exact opposite of what the Office of Attorney General has done. um My friend Amber and Adam Briggle had Ken Paxton over at their home for a meal, and he later became their persecutor because their child is trans.
00:28:29
Speaker
And they've been very much out on the record about that. Ken Paxton has used that office like the Spanish Inquisition used the church. And so I would tell you there ought to be instead a division of afford a bill affordability.
00:28:44
Speaker
Let me say that again. I propose that there should be a division of affordability. And that will be one transformative division within the Office of Attorney General that's never existed before. And what that will do is focus on ways to put money in Texans' pockets, because that's what we need in this beloved capitalist society.
00:29:06
Speaker
And it will do everything from collect child support on time and get it to the conservatory parent on time. It will challenge um electrician and electrical transmission companies at the PUC. Why doesn't the attorney general stand up for rate payers?
00:29:22
Speaker
It's always devolved down to local attorneys. um it It will go after ah payday loan sharks and people charging usurious rates for student loans.
00:29:33
Speaker
um It will help rate payers. It'll help insurance premium payers get the benefit of their bargain and on and on and on a division of affordability.
00:29:45
Speaker
It would also liaise with the attorneys who will no doubt in the Office of Attorney General sue the governor if we have to or if a Democrat serves as governor, we won't have to to reverse vouchers.
00:29:58
Speaker
um We all know that de funding yeah defunding public education is the opposite direction we ought to take. So the attorney general should be a leader on all these issues as a lawyer for sure.
00:30:10
Speaker
But because there are so many satellite offices, Kate, throughout the state for child support collection, you could offer wraparound services. to tame the savageness and make gentle the life of this world. So there's nothing wrong with government.
00:30:25
Speaker
Government in good doses is actually a wonderful anecdote for how difficult it is to make it here in this country. Absolutely. this this I feel it's connected to the newly proposed division of affordability. I saw just a few days ago a news story about the $156 million dollars Texas is paying Norton Rose Fulbright ah for obtaining... Well, to be fair to them, so they obtained $1.375 billion dollars settlement with Google.
00:30:56
Speaker
So, you know, maybe the juice was worth a squeeze. Maybe it wasn't. But you you see you you tell me, what do you think about all that? Well, I put a ah TikTok out about this the other day. Hey, who did you applaud applaud Norton Rose Fulbright. I'm sure they earned it.
00:31:10
Speaker
They have a contract with Ken Paxton that entitles them to that. I'm not going to say one bad word about my you know the the successor to my grandfather's firm, but let's talk about how that came about and let's see if we can avoid doing this again.
00:31:25
Speaker
In fact, kudos to the Texas Tribune for their article in 2021, Alex, that warned the Google settlement will cost taxpayers millions. Little did they know it was 156 million because in twenty twenty there was competent in-house counsel at the OAG on salary that was going to land a remarkable settlement with Google.
00:31:52
Speaker
Darren McClarty and Jeff Mateer. They were part of the whistleblower crew and people forgot their names because they never sued. But they were definitely chased off by the notorious conduct of Ken Paxton.
00:32:04
Speaker
And so Paxton has been doing this left and right. um He exercises... sole authority to allow cities and counties to hire local counsel, outside counsel, but he makes no mistake about doing it for himself. And so ah I would like to do an investigation on what he got out of it.
00:32:26
Speaker
um But there's no question it was a great settlement. We could have saved $156 million. And I would like to think that conservative and liberal voters can all get behind the idea that that's $156 million we could have put toward public education.
00:32:40
Speaker
Yeah. And how many millions has he has he wasted in lawsuits that have gone nowhere? Right. Meritless lawsuits that he's brought. Yeah, no, he is the guru of vexatious litigation in Texas.
00:32:52
Speaker
So I wanted to turn, though, your opponent, should you win in the primary, will not be Ken Paxton. So like who are you have any guesses? Like, do you have any ideas on what the general would look like for the Republicans?
00:33:08
Speaker
I do. There's there's four Republicans running. Yeah. So I do have some opinions and I'm putting on my mediators informed speculation hat. I think of the four who are running now, there's clearly going to be a runoff.
00:33:22
Speaker
the There's no way one of these four gets 50% plus one on March 3rd. So who's going to be in the runoff? Well, I'll take a stab at it. I think it's going to be MAGA Mays Middleton. And I'm calling him by his proper name because I think he's actually changed his name to MAGA Mays Middleton.
00:33:43
Speaker
I mean, his actual name is David Mays Middleton III, but he's changed it. and And Chip Roy. And it's going to be a 75-day bloodbath where they're going to ruin each other's pelts.
00:33:57
Speaker
And whoever you know emerges on June 1st, I hope to be waiting for them. You don't think my ah our fellow UT law grad, Aaron Reitz, is going to make it to the runoff?
00:34:09
Speaker
No, I don't. but Despite being personally endorsed by Ken Paxton? Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, that only goes so far. um But I mean, I've met Aaron, a nice guy. I appreciate his service. I mediate for his colleagues all the time.
00:34:24
Speaker
Former Marines who have ah gone into the private military contractor field. Got to meet Aaron at Texas Tribune, and he likes to troll me on X. And, you know, i I let him do that. There's no point in responding. But, you know, I look forward to getting to know him better.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah, i I think he's got a wonderful family, ah Aaron Reitz. I like him personally. I don't know if he likes me ah now that he knows how democratic I am. I'm a little concerned with the tone of his rhetoric.
00:34:52
Speaker
ah He says things like political violence is purely a left-wing problem. He says the Democrats are like, like Stephen Miller says, like we're like a domestic extremist organization or something like that. Like, I get i get really concerned about people who who talk like this.
00:35:08
Speaker
I think it puts people like us in danger and it puts our our families and our kids and people we love and into real harm, essentially. Yeah. You know, I mean, when was the first time you looked up the word stochastic?
00:35:19
Speaker
You know, I mean, I remember like, what does that mean? And then I looked at it like, damn. ah But it it is troubling because I'm sure he wasn't talking like that, you know, four years ago or he didn't talk like that in high school.
00:35:31
Speaker
um So when when what's his origin story? You know, um I'm I'm confident that there is a greater risk of being shot in running for office these days.
00:35:43
Speaker
um And that's a horrible thing to say, but, you know, I'm not a fool, nor am I naive, but people need to tone it down. All my comments, if they get, you know, if I get revved up, it's all about the possibilities of winning a race. And it's all within the a construct of a civil election.
00:36:06
Speaker
ah I'm not talking about hurting people or punishing people. I'm talking about a fair um ballot box resolution. And to me, the more the merit.
00:36:17
Speaker
This whole canard that you know all these non-citizens and evildoers are stuffing the ballot box. ah People need to stop talking like that. But that's where it started, and it seemed so innocent then.
00:36:31
Speaker
Now um there's actual calls for violence. and It's almost like the video games that people were playing 20 years ago have sort of sunk into their consciousness. And now we're going to use real guns.
00:36:43
Speaker
We can't talk like that. That is the most irresponsible thing. um And so, you know, I'd like I'd like to know Aaron on a much more subtle terrain. Well, talking about the realities of office, you alluded to this earlier.
00:36:58
Speaker
I'm wondering, how do we elect more working
Challenges in Running for Office
00:37:00
Speaker
class people? Because it seems to me in order to us. to campaign statewide, especially, and even and I saw this in my state race, which is just my own area, like you have to be available a lot for a campaign.
00:37:12
Speaker
And that just does not seem compatible to me with somebody who is also working. And you also be ah have to be available. And i I applaud you, Joe, I've seen you and other people like Vicki Goodwin, who have been around the state going to all the groups and seeing people and know you're, you're being present. You're, as they would say, like you're, you're there, right? Like you've, you're there for them and you've attended their events and people remember that, uh, especially at all the different events. Like, so I'm just wondering, how do we, how do we do it as a working class person? Because it seems to me either you have to be independently wealthy, you have to have no job or you, you know, you have someone supporting you. I don't know. Um,
00:37:52
Speaker
it Is it mediation? Is that the trick? is that i mean that is This is why I can run now. And I wouldn't do it if I had to be in the office every day. There's just no way. I don't have that kind of money set.
00:38:03
Speaker
ah But um because I mediate by Zoom and with the occasional trip in person, I'm able to be at a hotel in Gunbarrel City, Texas or Eagle Pass, Texas or Abilene. All true. This is all where we've been.
00:38:20
Speaker
Or you know Laredo or McAllen or Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio. Mediate in the morning. finished by 2 p.m., and then campaign the rest of the day and night. Many times this has me driving home in the middle of the night like I did yesterday from Round Rock, Texas, getting home at midnight.
00:38:37
Speaker
But it's sustainable. okay To answer your question, let's celebrate Taylor Remmet up in North DFW, who is a ah union member who is on the precipice of winning a state senate seat.
00:38:51
Speaker
Union member and veteran, I'll add. And veteran, God bless. Love it. and And so, but the yeah the the honest answer to your question is, you know, if you're a working person, ah you should be able to run for city council.
00:39:04
Speaker
um ah ah you ought to be able even to run for county commissioner. um ah if If you want to do state representative, you ought to be able to do that too with some ah understanding from your employer.
00:39:21
Speaker
ah But you know, once you start getting into these congressional and statewide races, um obviously, you know, to be able to campaign, um you're going to have to make some compromises. And sometimes there's that perfect little situation like mine or like some other.
00:39:40
Speaker
But we we need Democrats to win this 26 cycle and then reset the paradigm. And what my Division of Ethics and Integrity, which, by the way, has the ah ominous acronym of DEI, will do. okay And I'm proud of that, by the way. You see what I did there.
00:40:05
Speaker
The Division of Ethics and Integrity will investigate and cooperate with local prosecutorial authorities. to indict, try, and convict people who are helping themselves illegally at the public trough.
00:40:24
Speaker
That's my promise. The other thing it will do is advocate for a sea change in how government works. We need to have independent redistricting
Proposed Governance Reforms for Texas
00:40:32
Speaker
commissions. We need to have campaign finance limits like so many other states do, and I mean real limits.
00:40:39
Speaker
We need to have them in Texas. you don't know the problem at all We have no limits. And so the next time someone asked me, how much money did you raise? I'm going to say, don't you really mean how am I going to spend it?
00:40:50
Speaker
You know, I mean, you remember that great scene in Apollo 13 where they're dying on their own, you know, carbon dioxide ah up in the capsule. And they say, guys, this is what they've got to work with. Make a fix.
00:41:02
Speaker
and And I think candidates ought to be given a certain amount of money or limited to a certain amount of money and say, persuade us, as opposed to, I'm Tim Dunn. I'm going to get my boy Paxton off.
00:41:15
Speaker
And then I'm going to give a whole bunch of money to a whole bunch of other people so that I can have my ideology in the Capitol to the exclusion of the working man and woman. And so there ought to be term limits as well.
00:41:27
Speaker
All it takes is a constitutional change. And so finally, I'm going to also advocate for citizen petition initiatives, which are not permitted in our constitution. Yeah, you get some crazy propositions too, but you got to get a bunch of signatures.
00:41:41
Speaker
We ought to have already handled the abortion question by a citizen petition initiative that allows us to vote on it. Right now, we're just required.
00:41:52
Speaker
<unk> We're at the mercy of, what is it, two-thirds or three-quarters of each chamber. ah and And that's just never going to happen with these Republicans in charge. Yeah. Well, when I was campaigning, I didn't realize that our constitution here in the state of Texas was defines marriage between a man and a woman. And so if we, if our, a burger fell, fell, you know, with the Supreme Court, then we divert back to that. And, you know, how important that would be. And last fall, how many constitutional amendments did we just vote on? I mean, on these, like, on these mundane issues, and they all passed. I don't know how, but they all passed. I don't know. Everyone just says, yes, that sounds great.
00:42:28
Speaker
Yeah. We genuflect. Yeah, so we think this is a great opportunity in 2026 to have a big sea change, a great year for Texas Democrats. But if you listen to this podcast, you probably also know we care a lot more about what happens in 2030 than what happens 2026. No
Engaging Young Voters and Future Plans
00:42:45
Speaker
offense. Let's say you win.
00:42:46
Speaker
You become the next Attorney General. How do we take the the time we have between now and then to get Texas in a better position going into that moment. Because to to me, that's where everything's headed to a point.
00:43:00
Speaker
And if we don't have the Texas legislature flipped, we're not going be a part of the redistricting fight that's going to deal with these five new congressional districts we're supposed to be getting because of all this population growth. How can we most use these next few years to make sure we're ready for that big cataclysmic moment in 2030, also that first time we have a presidential election in 2032 with those red redistributed electoral votes.
00:43:24
Speaker
You're so right to focus on the end of the decennial census. So here's what I'm going to do if elected attorney general. Number one, I'm going to keep the same pace and I will be out on campuses regularly. I mean, monthly. I'm not talking about once or twice a year. I'm talking about every month, high school, college, university, and law schools.
00:43:48
Speaker
And if invited, I'll go to medical schools. But my point is where people are studying the Constitution, where people are engaging civically in an education environment, I want them to see the Democratic attorney general as an antidote to the anti-education hate process.
00:44:06
Speaker
ah mantra that the Republican Party has spread across our state. When I'm Texas Attorney General, I will protect educators at every level. And so what that's going to do is to create an interest level on the campuses, because I think young voters are the answer.
00:44:23
Speaker
The second thing I'm going to do, and this is, I take great delight in informing people this, since 1985, there has been on the books in the Texas election code that's simply not enforced and no one is enforcing it. I mean, a lot of people. follow Yeah. Yeah. That's 13.046 D as in David. And what it says is every high school principal is mandated shall.
00:44:50
Speaker
offer registration twice a year to the senior class. The idea being that when you graduate at age 18, you'll be registered. ah Anecdotally, maybe 35% of high school principals really do this in the spirit of the law.
00:45:05
Speaker
I will send a letter. within two weeks of taking the oath of office in January 2027, to every high school principal, public, private, charter, religious. The law covers them all.
00:45:17
Speaker
And it would be a nice but firm letter. Hey, principal, congratulations on starting the spring semester. Please let us know, ah you know, within 10 business days, the date and time and location of your registration process for the entire senior class. We may come and attend.
00:45:33
Speaker
And we'll make sure that we have 100% compliance. ah Public school system alone, Alex, graduates over 400,000 seniors every May.
00:45:45
Speaker
And that's just the public schools. So in a four-year AG term, we're talking well over 1.2 million new registered voters. And you have to do selective service. We all know this.
00:45:57
Speaker
In 1980, the first year it happened. How do we let these seniors graduate without being registered? So that's a pledge. I love that. I didn't even realize that. I guess Alex, as a former teacher, knew more about that. Well, as a former teacher, and then I had interned for the Texas Civil Rights Project when I was in law school in the voting rights division. And that was one of the things we talked about, actually. Y'all published a paper on that. I've i've used that. the the ah The opposite is actually happening in the Texas Attorney General's office right now, where they are going after schools and school boards for encouraging participation.
00:46:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's illegal. Oh, yeah. and we We were taking a good hard look at that and what we could do whenever I i was an intern there. um Well, can we get to maybe positivity
Sharing Positive News
00:46:43
Speaker
here? this is where we'd like to ask you, ah you know, we're going to go around the horn. It's a new segment that we've been doing, which is the good news. You know, what do you got Joe? Because maybe we need a little bit of hope, a little bit good, even if it's, you know, personal, professional, political. Like, what do you got?
00:46:58
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Good news. Well, my my family is doing fabulously. And, you know, our kids have now exited that troubled teens year. Our son, he 26. He just graduated.
00:47:10
Speaker
I hope I'm doing this right. University of Houston Law Center. Yeah. He'll be taking the bar exam. Yeah. He'll be taking the bar exam in February. ah And our daughter, Sasha, is transferring to the University of Houston. So now we're in this big UH family.
00:47:27
Speaker
um ah My wife and I are going to celebrate 36 years of marriage this May. Congrats. I absolutely love my daughter's black Labrador Mahali.
00:47:39
Speaker
And it is the sweetest dog. And I've done a few TikToks with this dog. and And, you know, when I go for walks with the dog, everybody just admiringly looks at us. So I just love my daughter's beautiful black lab two-year-old pup. And, you know, she's like 60 pounds now.
00:47:57
Speaker
The law practice is booming. I'm helping people settle their claims every single day. So when you see me out on the campaign trail, I'm a working man too. That's really great. I do. We'll put a plug in for your TikToks. I really like them. And you're out in your courtyard. So I see you out there and I love it.
00:48:15
Speaker
Alex, what's for it? Yeah, in the courtyard, reporting from the courtyard. Alex, what's your good news? my good news right now, ah break a break of little news, maybe not everybody even knows in the family. So y'all are hearing it her first, maybe. um My wife is ah returning back to the workforce. Wow. She and I were both ah Teach for America in San Antonio.
00:48:38
Speaker
We actually had overlap with James Tallarico. He started the year before us. And sometimes Teach for America gets gets lambasted. They call us Teach for a while sometimes, TFA. ah But my wife taught nine years.
00:48:52
Speaker
My wife got her master's in teaching. After three years at her placement school, she taught five years in the Texas School for the Visually Impaired ah and Blind ah there in Austin. And then she taught a year up at Richardson ISD when we moved.
00:49:06
Speaker
here And so I'm very excited to say that she is rejoining the world of education. She is going to be at the Children's Center, a historic preschool here in Dallas, which I am on the board of. And so we are we're very big fans of the Children's Center.
00:49:20
Speaker
And I'm very proud of her for rejoining the world of education. Fabulous. Well done. but Because you all have two young children. so i think that's really amazing to be able to do that. My son my son will start there in the fall. um And then my my toddler will also be there. So they'll be there together.
00:49:40
Speaker
That's fabulous. That's great. Well, mine's not family related, but my family's doing great as well. I have a three and a half year old and eight year old stepson. But I just finished. um I've been trying to read more in the new year and also have been trying to finish books. Like I'll start a book and then i will just turn to another one. And i did a lot of romance fantasy this last year, maybe our female audience listeners and maybe some of our male listeners.
00:50:05
Speaker
But I started Kamala Harris's book, 107 Days, and I finally finished it over the holidays and and the new year. And I did you guys read that book? either I'm not. now yeah No, it was really good. mean, it was basically a diary of everything that happened every day.
00:50:22
Speaker
and it was really incredible just to hear like her. interviewing people for the VP race. And then like what happened with Joe Rogan, you know, talking about podcasts and then her being really honest about her ah relationship with Joe Biden. And so it was a really great, I mean, a different tale telling, like I thought the diary entries had a type of style was very compelling. And you know where it's leading, like, and obviously, like, we don't like it. But I thought it was a really great behind the scenes look of what she was going through and like her debate prep and how amazing that was and how she had somebody opposite her who she in preparation who embodied Trump and how she like hated him until the end. ah So, um so that's my good news. I finished that book. Now I'm reading Lawrence Wright's God Save Texas. I don't know if either of you read that one, ah but it's essentially about just like what does Texas embody? And there's a chapter in ah about politics. So,
00:51:15
Speaker
And there I think there was like an HBO special about God Save Texas kind of based on his book. ah So I highly recommend that. And so I'm kind of trying to finish that one. So that's my good news. um All right. So that's our good news segment. I guess we're going to finish, though, Joe, you're now in the hot seat about the last word.
Strategies for Democrats to Flip Texas
00:51:33
Speaker
We're going to give every one of our guests this.
00:51:35
Speaker
How are we going to flip Texas? We haven't really talked about that yet. But what how broadly not just your race, because the AG's race, in addition to governor, seems to have gotten the closest in the recent our recent memory in the last decade. So what are we going to do? How do we going to do it?
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah. OK, well, I think that what we have to do is be the bravest we've ever been and ridicule the idea that the Republicans can safely deliver the goods.
00:52:04
Speaker
We need to point out ah the hate and the MAGA and the separation. And we talked a little bit about it, about some of the AG Republican candidates.
00:52:16
Speaker
We need to hold them accountable, much like Congress held Trump accountable ah for the January 6th investigation. You remember that was, you know, some people criticized it, but it was almost like a rise and fall of the Third Reich ah ah you know, episode ah where it was step by step.
00:52:38
Speaker
So we need to remind people what has been said. um The second thing is we need to run as a ticket as opposed to several vanity projects.
00:52:50
Speaker
um I, we haven't brought his name up, but someone who's had a great impact, ah whether you know it or not, on our chances is Kendall Scudder, our new chairman.
00:53:02
Speaker
And our first guest. and As he should be. He was a guest on my radio show. And when he, you know, I met him years ago when I was running in in the 22 cycle. But when I really connected with him where I thought this is the future was when I ah moderated the next to last live podcast.
00:53:23
Speaker
state chair forum. And it was at Lady of the Lakes in San Antonio. And he just stood out. I mean, there were so many good candidates, but I thought Kendall's got this, you know, and ah sure enough.
00:53:35
Speaker
So I believe Kendall's robust, unapologetic you know, swing for the fences attitude rings true to my ears.
00:53:47
Speaker
And I'm going to suggest that we, the and if if I'm blessed with, you know, the primary voters confidence, and I'm one of the nominees, I'm going to suggest that we campaign together, we travel together, we pool our resources, Kate.
00:54:02
Speaker
and And so I hope that's something specific, not just, you know, bono me or whatever, you know, where I'm just talking about all this good feel stuff. I'm talking about sharing our expenses and running ads where we are together.
00:54:14
Speaker
Because I think there's going to be a portion of the electorate that will rise to that. And also, I want them to see us as human beings um who can actually deliver the goods. I think it's just been so long since Democrats have run this state that there's a bunch of people, ah they don't even know what they're talking about. like They don't even know how to play baseball. You know you can't let them be in the starting lineup.
00:54:34
Speaker
Not true. This state of Texas is all made up, ideally, of public servants. So what I would say is... Be prepared to ridicule the Republicans to their face when they go after Muslims, trans men and women, and immigrants. That's all they got, guys.
00:54:55
Speaker
Yeah, that's what they're going to lead with anyway. And there's going to be a lot of fear distributed and we need to shout them down. I forget the man's name, but he's he's not lost to history. The man, the senator who shut down Joe McCarthy after long last, sir, have you no name? We have that moment here in Texas and we need to run as a ticket and be seen all around the state.
00:55:18
Speaker
Well, yeah, the I mean, every ad I would get from my local congresswoman was like immigrants are the boogeyman. mean, they've boogeyman-ified everything. mean, I feel like that's a verb or something that we should apply to the the Democrats. But um thank you so much, Joe. We really appreciate you. i mean, if there's anything else you want to add, but please let us know how we can follow and support you. You mentioned your website.
00:55:39
Speaker
ah But what else can we do? And TikTok, ah in the courtyard, what else can we do to support you? Anything else? Yeah, I think relational campaigning is free and easy. So let's start by going to the website, Jaworski4Texas.com. And that's all spelled out, F-O-R-T-E-X-A-S.
00:55:58
Speaker
And if you can get my last name spelled, good for you. So Worsky for Texas. And you'll see there a very well-developed website. It's got all my issues. It's got, you know, a campaign launch video that you can share with people on YouTube.
00:56:12
Speaker
And it's got an icon for every single social media platform where I write my own content. So what I'd ask people to do is, you know, check it out and send it to three friends and just go, hey, it's a Worsky guy. Check his stuff out. He's running for attorney general.
00:56:28
Speaker
We need connectivity. The other thing is um ah email me. There's a way to, you know, comment on there. And if you feel like giving some money, you know, I'll put it to buying signs.
00:56:40
Speaker
and We have now cashed out our entire account. And because that's what the money is for. And we have four by eight signs that are going be popping up all over the state. It's great. And we're going to have some real fun in this primary.
00:56:52
Speaker
It's a competitive primary and I'm competing. Yep. Well, we know there's a debate coming up with Richardson Area Dems, who we just were with on the on a Venezuela project. So we wish you luck on that.
00:57:05
Speaker
um And I'm going to sign off and I'll tell our listeners that we'll see them next week. And ah God bless Texas. You can follow us on all socials at Mission Texas Podcast.
00:57:16
Speaker
Email us at missiontexaspodcast at gmail.com. This episode is edited by Juan Jose Flores. Our music bumper is by Adam Pickerel, and our cover art is by Tino Sohn.