- Democrat lawyer Mikal Watts, who has been a major donor to prominent Democrats such as James Talarico, Beto O’Rourke, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama, donated $25,000 to Republican Chip Roy’s campaign for Attorney General
- Watts is currently seeking clients to sue the Trump administration over tariff claims
- Roy has criticized President Trump and his supporters, while Trump has called Roy “weak and ineffective”
A Democrat lawyer who is a major donor to Republican Chip Roy’s campaign for Texas Attorney General has begun aggressively seeking out clients to sue the Trump administration over tariff claims.
Attorney Mikal Watts was one of the earliest financial supporters of Roy’s candidacy for Attorney General, donating $25,000 on August 30, 2025 – just days after Roy jumped into the race. Watts’ donation to Roy is one of the largest received by Roy so far during his campaign.
Although Roy is seeking the Republican nomination for Attorney General, Watts has a long history of donating to Democrat politicians.
Watts donated $10,500 to Democrat James Talarico’s campaign for United States Senate on September 9, 2025 – less than two weeks after contributing to Roy’s campaign. Other prominent Democrats who have received large donations from Watts include Congresswoman Julie Johnson, Senators Rafael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, former Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, and former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Roy is not the first Texas Attorney General candidate to receive significant financial support from Watts. In 2018, Watts donated $100,000 to Justin Nelson, the Democrat nominee against Attorney General Ken Paxton that year.
Through his law firm, Watts is currently seeking clients to sue the Trump administration in the Court of International Trade over tariffs imposed by President Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump in a 6-3 decision holding that he lacked authority to impose tariffs.
In a 40-minute video explaining his litigation against the Trump administration, Watts encourages other lawyers to refer tariff litigation cases to his firm and says he will pay up to 50% of the fees collected on any referred cases to the referring co-counsel.
Roy’s virulent criticisms of President Trump and his supporters have been a significant point of contention throughout the race for Attorney General.
In an October 3, 2023, interview with Blaze host Steve Deace, Roy did not mince words for those in the “MAGA camp” who had been critical of him. “You can kiss my ass,” said Roy of his conservative critics, whom he also described in the interview as “f**kers.”
In 2021, Roy took to the House floor to declare that Trump “deserves universal condemnation for what was clearly impeachable conduct” in the wake of the 2020 election.
Trump has castigated Roy on multiple occasions.
In a December 19, 2024, Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “The very unpopular “Congressman” from Texas, Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself. Republican obstructionists have to be done away with.”
“Weak and ineffective people like Chip have to be dismissed as being utterly unknowledgeable as to the ways of politics, and as to Making America Great Again,” added Trump.
In a follow-up post, Trump described Roy as “just another ambitious guy, with no talent” and expressed a desire for Roy to be challenged in the Republican Primary.
Roy faces State Senator Mayes Middleton in the Republican Primary Runoff for Attorney General.
