PAUKEN EYES ATTORNEY-GENERAL RACE

Tom Pauken, after serving just over three years as chairman of the Texas GOP, is stepping down to challenge incumbent attorney-general Democrat Dan Morales.

Announcing his decision at a meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee, he said as chairman his goal had been to rebuild the "Reagan alliance of economic and social conservatives" that produced GOP victories in the 1980s.

During his chairmanship, he said, the party had "built up a strong conservative infrastructure at the grassroots level, all across this state -- precinct by precinct, neighborhood by neighborhood, county by county." As a result, he said, the Republican Party has a chairman in all 254 counties for the first time in history.

In an appearance on the Texas Journal radio program, Pauken said the attorney-general of Texas has influence beyond the legal powers of his office. the attorney-general, he said, he can have an influence on what legislators and governors. "Leadership makes a real difference," he said.

Gangs, drugs, and problems at the Mexican border, he said, are just some of the challenges facing the state of Texas and, Pauken added, there are "a lot of things the attorney-general can do."

Pauken focussed on the "enormous power" of unelected Federal judges over state affairs citing the case of Judge William Wayne Justice and the Ruiz decision that put the Texas criminal justice system under the control of the Federal court.

Pauken said he was certain Ruiz would be overruled if the state appealed it to the Fifth Circuit but that has not been done.

Pauken directed the ACTION agency under President Reagan and noted that he was able to reduce the budget by 25 percent and the staff by 50 percent and still accomplished more .

By contrast, he noted, Morales' 1997 budget of $258 million is "almost 13 times the budget for 1983.