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Rep. Dan Branch Throws Hat Into The A.G. Ring

State Representative Dan Branch officially launched his campaign for Texas Attorney General Tuesday.

The conservative Dallasite says constitutional liberties are under siege in Washington and he vows to fight for them.

Dan Branch supporters cheered and clapped, waving homemade signs as their candidate promised to fight for what he calls Texas values. Branch made the announcement at the SMU Dedman School of Law, his alma mater.

He says his experience as an attorney and time spent in Austin makes him the right man for the job.

“I’ve walked the walk on these areas. I’ve pushed back against the federal government, I’ve delivered on open government and I’ve worked hard to preserve our limited government,” says Branch.

Branch’s top priorities? Preserving a business-friendly regulatory climate and preventing federal overreach.

“It’s just unacceptable that this administration, it has unfettered access to our emails and phone calls. And we have to have due process in this country and we have to make sure we’re protecting personal liberties,” Branch says. “We also have to protect our national security, but we have to find the right balance and I think this administration hasn’t found that.”

Branch has $4 million in campaign money on hand. That’s about four times as much as Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman who is also seeking the Republican nomination.

Last week, current Attorney General Greg Abbott announced a run for governor in 2014.

Courtney Collins has been working as a broadcast journalist since graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 2004. Before coming to KERA in 2011, Courtney worked as a reporter for NPR member station WAMU in Washington D.C. While there she covered daily news and reported for the station’s weekly news magazine, Metro Connection.