Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tells
Newsmax TV that he's excited to potentially have two Texans running for president.
It's "obviously a very exciting time for us," Paxton told J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan on "America's Forum" on Monday.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz
announced his plans to run for president in 2016 in a speech from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, Monday.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is also expected to run.
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Paxton said Cruz's announcement was a "very energetic speech, a conservative speech."
The Texas attorney general said he wasn't bothered by the fact that Cruz didn't make the announcement from the Lone Star State.
"He's running nationally, so I understand that he can't do everything in Texas," Paxton explained.
"He'll do great here, and so it was probably a good idea to announce somewhere outside of Texas," he said.
He also said it was smart of Cruz to be the first candidate to officially announce his plans to run.
"It's always an advantage to get started early," he said.
"It's a long, tough race. It's expensive, and so, the longer you have to raise money, the better opportunity you have to raise more."
Paxton said he's friends with both Cruz and Perry and thinks "highly of both of them."
"They're both very strong, good men, and both very conservative," he added.
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