HOUSTON TX – Texas State Representative, District 129, Dennis Paul made the following announcement:

“I am officially announcing my campaign for Texas Senate, District 11, today. While I remain focused on completing the work of the 89^th Session in the Texas House, I want to make my intentions clear,” Paul said.

“Senator Middleton’s decision to run for Texas Attorney General opens the door on the next opportunity for me to serve the people of our area. It has been my great honor to serve the voters in HD 129 and I will continue to be your conservative voice for Senate District 11. I will faithfully represent those values which make Texas the greatest state to live, work and raise a family: faith in God; love for family and liberty,” Paul concluded.

More information about Dennis Paul is available at www.DennisPaul.com.

State Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, announced Thursday he is running for the seat being vacated by state Sen. Mayes Middleton, who is forgoing reelection to run for attorney general.

Paul’s announcement was quickly followed by an endorsement from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senate’s powerful presiding officer. Patrick routinely gives his early stamp of approval to GOP Senate candidates running for vacant districts, sending a message to donors and other would-be candidates and, in turn, ensuring the chamber is filled with his political allies.

Paul, a 64-year-old engineer who has served in the House since 2015, said in a statement that he would “remain focused” on the ongoing legislative session but wanted to “make my intentions clear.”

He is the first candidate out of the gate to succeed Middleton, a Republican who represents a slice of southeast Texas running from Galveston to the outskirts of Houston and east Harris County. Virtually all of Paul’s House District 129 overlaps with the north part of Middleton’s Senate District 11.

If elected to the Senate, Paul said, “I will faithfully represent those values which make Texas the greatest state to live, work and raise a family: faith in God; love for family and liberty.”

Patrick said Paul “has everything that’s needed to be a Texas Senator,” citing his “track record of being a stalwart conservative” and his experience in the House.

The domino effect was set off by Attorney General Ken Paxton’s decision to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s primary, opening up Paxton’s statewide post for the first time since 2014. Paul’s bid for the state Senate means there will also be an open race for his Republican-leaning House district.

In the decade he has served in the lower chamber, Paul has largely voted as a mainstream Republican, falling toward neither the moderate nor the most conservative end of the spectrum. He has served on the House Insurance Committee in each of his six terms and has been vice chair of several committees, currently serving as vice chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation Funding.

State Rep. Dennis Paul (R-Houston), a decade-long member of the Texas House, announced his run for Senate District (SD) 11, which is being vacated by state Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) to run for Texas attorney general.

“I am officially announcing my campaign for Texas Senate, District 11, today. While I remain focused on completing the work of the 89th Session in the Texas House, I want to make my intentions clear,” Paul said.

“Senator Middleton’s decision to run for Texas Attorney General opens the door on the next opportunity for me to serve the people of our area. It has been my great honor to serve the voters in HD 129 and I will continue to be your conservative voice for Senate District 11. I will faithfully represent those values which make Texas the greatest state to live, work and raise a family: faith in God; love for family and liberty.”

SD 11 is rated R-62% by The Texan’s Texas Partisan Index, making it a safe Republican seat and the primary contest to watch. It spans Galveston, into Harris County, and over to Brazos County.

Paul announced in a press release with Allen Blakemore as the campaign point of contact, a political consultant whose biggest client is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Shortly after, Patrick weighed in on the announcement to back Paul’s candidacy, saying, “Dennis Paul has everything that’s needed to be a Texas Senator. He has a 12-year track record of being a stalwart conservative who keeps a laser focus on serving the people of his District.”

“He will be a tremendous asset to the Texas Senate. With his experience in the Texas House, he will be effective on Day 1 as a Senator. I am proud to endorse him as the next Senator from District 11.”

Paul was first elected to the Texas House in 2014 and has had little trouble getting re-elected since. He is an engineer by trade and currently sits on the House Insurance and Transportation committees.

Middleton is currently the lone candidate for attorney general after John Bash dropped out due to a family illness. Other names floated about for SD 11 are state Reps. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) and Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood), the latter of whom has sent texts to voters outside his House district but inside SD 11, touting passage of the chamber’s education priority bills.

Cain tweeted following the endorsement, “Good news.”