 In 1998, the last time that Pauken sought elected office, he finished with 30 percent in a three-candidate field for the office of Texas attorney general.The winner of the primary runoff election was John Cornyn, the state's current senior U.S. senator and a candidate for reelection to a third term in 2014.Coincidentally, the Democrat that Cornyn defeated in the general election held on November 3, 1998, was former Attorney General Jim Mattox, the same candidate who had defeated Pauken for the Dallas-based congressional seat in 1978 and 1980.