TEXAS — East Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert says he’s exploring a run for Texas attorney general. The GOP primary field is already crowded and Gohmert says he’ll jump in if he can raise $1 million over the next 10 days.

“We’re running out of time,” he told supporters according to a video of his announcement posted on Facebook by the Smith County Republican Party. “If I’ve got a million bucks or more, I am all in. I am going to be the hardest running candidate you’ve ever seen.”

Candidates must file to run by Dec. 13 for the primary on March 1.

Like other candidates in the race, Gohmert hinted he’d make incumbent Ken Paxton’s legal woes central to his campaign. Paxton is under investigation by the FBI over bribery and abuse of office allegations. Paxton also has been battling a securities fraud case since his first months in office in 2015. He has denied wrongdoing in both.

Gohmert suggested Republicans could lose the powerful statewide office to a Democrat if Paxton wins the nomination.

“We’ve got to have an attorney general that’s undistracted by moral and legal issues of his own and who can get elected a year from now,” Gohmert told the crowd of supporters.

Gohmert is known as one of the most far-right Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation. He’s repeated former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen and suggested the Jan. 6 riot was a left-wing conspiracy.

Paxton already faces three high-profile primary opponents: Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth.