Political donors are shattering attorney general fundraising records across the country as the candidates for top cop jobs draw increasing attention in their efforts to challenge federal policy and defend states’ jurisdiction.
The Republican and Democratic Attorneys General Associations — the primary campaign arms for top state prosecutors — each broke their all-time annual fundraising records in 2025, raising $29.3 million and $28 million, respectively. With their over $29 million fundraising haul, the RAGA raised the most money any of any attorneys general group ever in a single year.
“When we look at the fundraising, donors who typically ignore AG races are waking up that these are very important elections,” RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper told the Washington Examiner. “It matters as much to a state as who the Attorney General is as [it does] who the governor is.”
With each group aiming to break their own fundraising records again this year, attorney general races in 2026 could be the hidden midterm elections for political junkies to pay attention to. There are 30 attorney general seats up for reelection in 2026, with at least five toss-up states in play for candidates.
Why AG races are getting more attention
Because attorneys general initiate more lawsuits against presidential administrations, they arguably wield more direct power over state policies than House members in a 435-person chamber. This often leads them to seek higher office following their terms, meaning more donors and candidates will jump into play.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, DAGA President Sean Rankin said his group’s 2025 fundraising pull “is a prime example of the strength we have right now as a committee.” He pointed to legal challenges against the Trump administration by blue states as a reason donors have gravitated toward the races.
“Donors recognize the harm the Trump administration is committing and understand that Democratic AGs are the only group of elected leaders holding him accountable,” Rankin said.
Piper told the Washington Examiner that “no one can have a bigger footprint on federal policy than someone in the presidential administration or the US Senate, than an AG.”
“The Democrat AGs have had some success against the Trump administration,” Piper said. “The Republican AGs won over 80% of cases against the Biden administration, really enabling a lot of the key wins for this Trump administration on energy and other things to take foothold.”
Since President Donald Trump began his second term in 2025, Democratic state Attorneys General have filed 86 cases against the Trump administration and won 51 of them, according to the liberal advocacy group Progressive State Leaders Committee. The Democratic state prosecutors broke the lawsuit record during the first Trump administration, suing the executive branch 138 times, according to the American Immigration Council. They have taken aim at administration moves on policies like food stamps, vaccines, and National Guard deployments.
Under the Biden administration, Texas Attorney General turned-GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton alone sued the executive branch at least 103 times, according to Fox News. Republican attorneys general fought the Biden administration on issues related to immigration, COVID-19 relief, and energy policy.
“AG races are mattering more to donors and to people like you than they did four years ago, six years ago, eight years ago, because the proof’s in the pudding,” Piper said. “This is a more important office [than] being one of 435 members of Congress. Congress talks, Attorney General act and win.”
Piper pointed to the crowded field in Texas‘s GOP Attorney General primary as an example of the appeal the races have to candidates and donors. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is “giving up a very safe congressional seat to run in a very hot primary,” he said.
Further adding to the draw of attention on attorney general races is the fact that several former attorneys general have recently sought or made rumblings about seeking higher office.
Besides Paxton, Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) and Kentucky Republican Daniel Cameron are two former state attorneys general running for Senate in their states in 2026. As pundits look toward the 2028 presidential election, many names floated on the Democratic side are former state attorneys general, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), and Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY).
Piper said there is a “political springboard” aspect of the position, and also pointed to Sens. Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO), who also recently came from the state attorney general alumni pool.
States to watch
As more eyes turn to watch the 2026 attorney general races, several reports have listed five main toss-up races this midterm cycle: those in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Each of these states currently has a Democratic attorney general, though Trump carried all of them except Minnesota in the 2024 presidential election.
Arizona
In Arizona, incumbent Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, who switched parties during the first Trump administration, is running unopposed in her primary race. But Mayes will face toss-up battle in the general election.
Mayes won her race in 2022 by a razor-thin margin, besting GOP candidate Abraham Hamadeh by just 280 votes. Mayes has recently been facing pushback over her comments against federal immigration enforcement tactics, which led to her law enforcement liaison resigning.
On the Republican side, state Senate President Warren Petersen is taking on former attorney general candidate Rodney Glassman in the primary. Glassman lost to Hamadeh by 10 percentage points in 2022. Petersen is the suspected front-runner in the July primary, but it could be a close primary battle, according to the University of Virginia’s Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
Michigan
Michigan’s current two-term Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel is term-limited, opening up the race as both parties hold contested primaries in the swing state.
There are three Democratic candidates running in the August primary: Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, and Detroit-based public defender William Noakes.
There are also three Republican candidates running: Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, defense attorney and former Detroit Catholic school superintendent Kevin Kijewski, and former 2022 general election candidate Matt DePerno. DePerno, who was federally indicted in 2023 on charges he allegedly attempted to tamper with voting machines in the 2020 election, lost to Nessel in 2022 by a margin of 8.6 percentage points.
Minnesota
In Minnesota, if the current field stays the same, incumbent Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison will face sole Republican challenger Ron Schultz in the November general election.
Ellison, who is running for his third term, defeated his 2022 Republican opponent, lawyer Jim Schultz, by less than 1 percentage point. In 2018, Ellison won his first election by a 3.9-point margin.
Ellison has been in the news a lot this year over his handling of the fraud scandals gripping Minnesota and the subsequent immigration enforcement surge in the state. In a recent contentious Senate hearing, he sparred with GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who called on him to resign over fraud reports.
Ron Schultz, the only Republican who has declared his candidacy, is a veteran and Minnesota-based attorney.
Nevada
There is an open race in Nevada, as Democratic incumbent Aaron Ford is running for governor.
On the GOP side of the ballot, Douglas County commissioner Danny Tarkanian and attorney Adriana Guzman Fralick are each running. Current Gov. Joe Lombardo (D-NV) has endorsed Fralick.
On the Democratic side, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzarro and state Treasurer Zach Conine are facing off in the June primary. Ford won his 2022 election by a margin of 7.8 percentage points and his 2018 race by a razor-thin 0.4-point margin.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s 2026 race could end up being a rematch between the 2022 candidates for the seat: incumbent Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul and Fond du Lac County’s Republican district attorney, Eric Toney.
Kaul bested Toney by a 1.3 percentage-point margin in the swing state in 2022. In 2018, Kaul defeated his Republican incumbent opponent, Brad Schimel, by a 0.6-point margin.
Wisconsin candidates have a June 1 filing deadline to compete in the August primary.
Other possibly competitive races
In addition to these five focus states, DAGA has said they are looking to flip attorney general seats in Iowa and Kansas.
On the RAGA side, Piper pointed to the GOP candidate running in New York, Saritha Komatireddy. He said that although many see Democratic Attorney General Letitia James as “unbeatable,” Komatireddy is a high-quality candidate to watch in the state where Republicans taking on Democrats in a general election is often “like a 16 playing a one seed.”
Komatireddy is a former Eastern District of New York prosecutor who also served as the chief of staff at the Drug Enforcement Administration and has prosecuted members of drug cartels, al Qaeda, and ISIS.
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Rankin told the Washington Examiner that DAGA aims to nearly double its 2025 fundraising in 2026. He said they set the “ambitious goal of raising more than $50 million across all platforms” and that the group is “currently on track to meet that number.”
“Our message is clear: voters have a choice between Republican AGs and candidates who support Trump and will continue to allow his harmful policies to go unchecked, or Democratic AGs and candidates who will work to address the harms done to their constituents by this administration,” Rankin said.
