Democrats flip five state AG offices, throwing GOP lawsuits into doubt

Democrats flipped state attorney-general offices in five states on Nov 3 — Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas — and that red-to-blue swing hands them the keys to a long list of pending lawsuits. New AGs can drop cases, settle them, or simply stop defending laws their Republican predecessors fought hard to keep. The shift touches abortion access, transgender care, immigration enforcement and corporate litigation.

Texas is the biggest domino. The state is among those suing the FDA over its approval of mifepristone, arguing the agency didn't thoroughly vet the abortion drug's safety and effectiveness. If Texas walks away, Florida becomes the lone remaining plaintiff — Republican Attorney-General James Uthmeier won a new term there on Nov 3. Kansas Attorney-General-elect Chris Mann could pull his state out of a separate challenge to rules that widened mifepristone access, leaving Missouri and Idaho to carry it.

Texas Attorney-General-elect Nathan Johnson told Reuters he'll scrutinize what Ken Paxton's office filed. Asked about pending suits, he said: “Everything will be examined.” That covers Texas cases against out-of-state providers who prescribed mifepristone remotely to Texans, and potentially the state's defense of its near-total abortion ban in a lawsuit brought by the family of Tierra Walker, who died from a pregnancy-related condition after doctors refused an abortion. Johnson could also back away from at least three cases seeking to enforce a 2023 law banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors.

In Georgia, Democrat Tanya Miller's win could reshape the state's defense of HB 481, the 2019 law banning abortion after six weeks — still in litigation after the Georgia Supreme Court revived it in 2024. Georgia is also in the middle of a fight over congressional maps that challengers say harmed Black voters. US District Judge Steven Jones paused further action on Nov 5, citing “impending changes” in the attorney general's office.

Corporate targets are in play too. Texas is suing Kenvue, alleging the Tylenol maker concealed purported links between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children; Kenvue denies wrongdoing, and medical groups consider acetaminophen the preferred treatment for pain and fever in pregnancy, with no firm scientific evidence of such a link. Paxton's 2023 suit accused Pfizer of misrepresenting its Covid-19 vaccine's efficacy — Pfizer called its statements accurate and science-based, and the case meritless. Kansas Republican Attorney-General Kris Kobach, who narrowly lost to Mann, filed a similar Pfizer suit.

Texas and 12 other Republican-led states are also suing asset managers including BlackRock, claiming climate activism violated antitrust law by cutting coal production and driving up energy prices. Kansas is a plaintiff; BlackRock denies wrongdoing, and Vanguard settled claims against it in the lawsuit for US$29.5 million in February. On immigration, Texas could abandon its defense of SB4, the law letting state authorities arrest and prosecute people suspected of crossing the border illegally, which the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals allowed to take effect in April. Iowa Attorney-General-elect Nate Willems could similarly decline to defend a comparable law if the Supreme Court takes up the state's appeal.