Joe Jaworski
Democratic Candidate for Attorney General
Jaworski/Photo by Campaign
Question: What is your age?
Answer: 59 (Date of Birth: March 1, 1962)
Q: What is your educational background? Please list any degrees or certificates earned and any institutions attended.
A: Davidson College, Davidson, NC (B.A. Spanish Literature, 1984); University of Texas School of Law (J.D., 1991)
Q: What is your occupation?
A: Attorney and Mediator
Q: If you are a business owner, please list the business or businesses that you own. (If this question is not applicable, please note that below.)
A: Owner of Jaworski Law Firm (Galveston, Texas)
Q: Please list any civic boards or commissions (non-profit, government, union, political, etc.) on which you have served as a board member or equivalent.
A: Galveston Ethics Commission (1996-1998)
Galveston Park Board of Trustees (1998-2000)
Galveston Wharves Board (2004-2006)
Q: Have you previously held or do you currently hold any elected office? If so, what office(s)?
A: Galveston City Councilmember, District 3 (2000-2006)
Galveston Mayor pro Tem (2004-2006)
Mayor of Galveston, TX (2010-2012)
Q: If your campaign has any online campaign resources where voters can learn more about you, such as social media accounts or a website, please list them below.
A: Follow us online
Facebook @JaworskiForTexas
Twitter @JaworskiForTX
Instagram @JaworskiForTexas
Q: Why did you decide to run for this office in 2022?
A: I'm running to restore integrity to the consequential office of Texas Attorney General. The Attorney General represents the intersection of law and politics in Texas, and the office holder must be above reproach. I'm running to remove corrupt Ken Paxton from the office because the Texas GOP will not clean house; Paxton, Trump's new consigliere, and proud bearer of Trump's endorsement, will certainly win the GOP nomination this spring. Accordingly, Paxton's removal from office can only happen when a democrat defeats him in the general election.
Q: If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?
A: 1. Champion Voter Access: Multiple crises abound (adolescent mental health, the State leadership's disrespect for local decision-making authority, rampant gun violence, poor public education outcomes, government corruption, electric grid instability and so many more), and all of these require a firm and sure governmental response. That means our elections are more consequential than ever. So, I identify voter access as the Number One issue confronting Texas because everything else flows from who our leaders are and how we elect them. Ken Paxton's voter fraud unit has done great damage to the public's confidence in our elections. His support for Trump and the Big Lie is a national threat. Upon taking the oath of office, I will take Ken Paxton's voter fraud unit and turn it into General Jaworski's voter access unit because voters ought to be able to rely on the government when their voting rights are negatively affected. Unlike Paxton (who seeks to suppress the vote), I will enforce access to voting. For example, every August I will send a letter to every Texas principal reminding her of Texas Election Code section 13.046(d) which requires each principal to offer registration twice a year to the senior class, specifically to every student who turns 18 that year. It will be a pleasant, but firm correspondence requiring a prompt acknowledgment and identification of both dates registration will be offered. I would send representatives from my office to make sure the schools follow through with their promises. I will attend registration days at select campuses to stoke civic engagement. Imagine if every 18 year old were registered, and imagine if the habit of voting were embraced with the same zeal as the teenagers exhibit only two years earlier when the time comes to get a driver's license. That's one example of my future intentional, transformative action in office.
2. Support Local Decision Making Authority: As a former councilmember and mayor, I learned that local government is the best government. It's the best because it's the most responsive form of government. For example, you can have "coffee with your mayor" (a program which i hosted twice a month during my term as Galveston Mayor; we called it "A Cup o' Joe with Joe"); you can address your local leaders at regular and special scheduled meetings, and you can write a letter to the editor in the regional newspaper (such as The Amarillo Pioneer) and have a reasonable expectation that local leaders will read and understand your sentiments. Try having coffee with Greg Abbott or Dan Patrick. Better yet: Let's check Ken Paxton's open door policy. Good luck with that. To be fair, these leaders have 30 million constituents to answer to, and mayors, county judges and school board trustees have fewer. And that's all the more reason to insist that Texas's statewide leadership remove its authoritarian thumb from the decision-making authority of local leaders. As your next Texas Attorney General I will support local governmental decision-making authority when it is legal, and if there is an open question on whether a local exercise of discretion is legal, I will gladly evince a bias in favor of local decision-making authority because that is the way Federalism is supposed to work. Federalism: It's a conservative principle that the Texas GOP demands when it looks to Washington D.C., but it has abandoned it when considering cities, counties and school districts. I say let Amarillo be Amarillo, let Houston be Houston, let Brownsville be Brownsville. Texas is big enough to allow for that conservative American value to thrive in all corners of the state.
3. Legalization of recreational, personal use cannabis: I will advocate in the 2023 Legislature for Cannabis Legalization to create state revenue and jobs, to help veterans, PTSD and chronic pain sufferers and to remove a wasteful and petty prosecution from the books to advance long overdue social and criminal justice reform. Police waste too many hours on time-consuming cannabis arrests when they could be fighting real crime. Legalizing cannabis achieves criminal justice reform and actually funds the police because we will save $300 million annually when we cease this wasteful, petty prosecution.
Q: What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?
A: The Texas Attorney General's Office has historically been, at bottom, a consumer protection champion. It has great power to protect Texans in the consumer marketplace. But that power has become diminished under Paxton's oversight in favor of stoking culture wars under the guise of constitutional litigation. In addition, the greatest crisis, among many, facing Texans is the lack of access to health care and the profit-driven scheme of health insurers to deny care that Texas doctors prescribe for their patients. I personally support the private insurance marketplace - I like purchasing health insurance through my law firm for its employees and then getting the benefit of my bargain with my Insurer. But when insurance companies reap tens of billions in profits while choking off access to care and, worse, refusing to authorize timely reimbursement to doctors for care that is authorized, oftentimes grudgingly, then it is time for the People's Attorney to step in and demand accountability in the marketplace. I would use my Civil Investigative Demand (CID) powers and litigation powers to force health insurers to honor their duties under Texas and federal law. The same goes for property insurers. This could be transformative work, benefitting urban and rural communities, young and old Texans, and Republican and Democratic voters alike.
Q: Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?
A: I am a third generation Texas trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience litigating several hundred matters in state and federal trial and appellate courts. I respect Mr. Merritt (who is not permitted to practice in Texas State Court) and Ms. Garza, but their combined years of courtroom experience equal half of mine. This actually matters because my and my family's connections in the Texas Bar are profound, and this is going to aid me in recruiting a talented, diverse leadership council. Also, courtroom and litigation experience in Texas matters when opposing lawyers size up their competition, and the Texas Attorney General fights some of the most powerful law firms and well-funded interests every day, so the quality of an AG candidate's political maturity and trial skills matter greatly when choosing whom to support. Additionally, as an international mediator, I've mediated and resolved thousands of matters in state and federal courts. My mediation skills of deep listening and innovative problem solving are desperately needed in today's politics. Finally, I'm the only candidate who has served in local government: I have served as a councilmember, mayor pro tem and mayor of Galveston, Texas for eight years. Importantly, I was harshly tested during my term as mayor when I advocated for rebuilding Galveston's storm-damaged public housing as mixed-income communities - an innovation that was initially met with opposition by Galvestonians motivated by racism and greed (the Apartment Association leadership didn't want the competition - any new units built would dilute their section 8 market share). I fought these critics intensely. They tried to recall me, but I defeated the recall movement. They offered me a sweet deal: If i drop the plan, they'd withdraw their challenge to my re-election. I firmly declined that unacceptable deal. While I was finally defeated in a run off by a tea party candidate whose slogan was "HUD out of Galveston!", I was ultimately vindicated after three years of federal litigation when my plan was sustained in the federal courts. Even though I no longer was mayor, I proudly attended the ground breaking and ribbon cutting, and now the mixed income communities are fully occupied and Galveston has chosen to build and has eagerly welcomed a third community which is presently under construction. I truly lived Sam Houston's maxim: "Do right and risk the consequences." That kind of experience is the best test for - and best proof of - my readiness to serve on Day One.