While it is a notch below being a governor or U.S. Senator, the attorney general’s office in Texas has long been a platform for generating publicity and getting into the pipeline for higher office. Every Texas attorney general since 1972 has run for either the U.S. Senate or governor, though not all have won.

Yet, Texas hasn’t seen many open primary battles of attorney general over the last 25 years. Paxton had to go to a runoff election with former Texas Rep. Dan Branch in 2014 to win his first term in office. Before that, you have to go back to 2002, when now Gov. Greg Abbott won his primary unopposed to begin a 12-year run as Texas attorney general. Those are the only two open-seat battles for attorney general since George W. Bush was governor.