Musk Lawyer John Bash Running for Texas Attorney General

Elon Musk’s lawyer, John Bash of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, is running for Texas attorney general, the first confirmed candidate to succeed Ken Paxton for the influential office.

Bash, who served as US Attorney in the Western District of Texas during President Donald Trump’s first term, will announce on Wednesday, his campaign told Bloomberg Law.

Paxton announced Tuesday that he will challenge US Sen. John Cornyn (R) in next year’s primary. His departure after three terms is expected to draw a crowded field, a rare opportunity to run statewide for an office whose support of conservative causes reverberates nationally.

“The stakes have never been higher,” Bash said in a statement. “The Trump Administration faces daily challenges from activist judges and nationwide injunctions, and it needs legal allies who know how to fight these high-stakes battles. As we look ahead to 2028, there is no guarantee that the Republican Party will hold the presidency. Should a far-left figure rise to power, Texas will need the toughest, most experienced legal representation to defend our way of life.”

Bash rose to prominence in 2017 when he was tapped as the top federal prosecutor in a district anchored by Austin, San Antonio, and more than 600 miles of shared border with Mexico. The El Paso native oversaw prosecutions related to illegal immigration and led responses to the 2018 Austin serial bombings and a 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart that killed 23.

In 2020, he joined Quinn Emanuel, where he co-chairs the firm’s national appellate practice and co-manages its Austin office.

He is currently representing Elon Musk against defamation in Texas state court.

His key wins include obtaining an apology from the Internal Revenue Service to billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin in connection with the unauthorized release of his tax return information. Bash also was part of the defense team that obtained a dismissal of criminal charges against actor Alec Baldwin in a deadly shooting on the set of the film “Rust.”

Bash, a Harvard Law graduate, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was a DC Circuit judge. He is married to Zina Bash of Keller Postman, who represented Texas against Meta and obtained a record $1.4 billion settlement last year for the unlawful use of Texans’ facial recognition data.