Travis County DA Race: José Garza Bests Martin Harry

AUSTIN, TX — Political newcomer José Garza — the head of a social justice nonprofit advocating largely for immigrants and construction workers — handily won the race for district attorney on Tuesday, besting his Republican rival Martin Harry.

Garnering nearly 70 percent of the vote, Garza successfully staved off attacks from his opponent painting him as too progressive and anti-police. Instead, Garza ascended to the post against a backdrop of growing discontent with local police amid a growing chorus for reform. Protests were sparked locally condemning police action — an aversion that grew when protesters were seriously injured by the use of non-lethal projectiles at protests earlier this year.

The election results may very well have been a referendum on the matter. The two contenders were ideologically divided on their stances related to police reform. In the end, most of the voting electorate endorsed Garza's perspective with their ballots.

Polls opened in Texas at 7 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m.

Results will be posted as they come in:

José Garza: 393,808 (69.8 percent)

Martin Harry: 170,100 (30.2 percent)

Source: Travis County Clerk's Office. 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Progressive candidate Garza bested former incumbent Margaret Moore in the primaries, clinching his party's nomination with a platform built on greater police oversight and sentencing reform policies. Republican Martin Harry has taken a more traditional position, expressing support for law enforcement.

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Garza's ascendancy was seen by some political observers as something of a rebuke against the former incumbent, Moore, against a backdrop of calls for police reform. After her loss to Garza in a July runoff election, she garnered criticism from police reform advocates after announcing a delay in empaneling grand juries to probe the deaths of two men during police confrontations, handing off the task to her successor in January.

Yet Moore already had encountered controversy among a segment of the electorate over her handling of sexual abuse assault cases impeded by bureaucracy, prompting a call from the Austin Firefighters Association for her to be replaced. Garza cited the issue while campaigning, pointing to a backlog in sexual assault cases impeding prosecution against offenders.

The influence of such discontent with Moore was illustrated by Garza's victory despite his lack of experience as a prosecutor as executive director of the Workers Defense Project, a nonprofit focused on ensuring the rights of immigrants and those in blue-collar professions, particularly the construction industry.

Harry pounced on Garza's progressive leanings on the stump while furthering his conservative mindset: "Does Austin want to decriminalize retail theft?" he wrote on his Facebook page in a typical attack. "José Garza supports it."

The post was prompted by Garza's call to decriminalize some minor offenses.

In another post, Harry painted Garza as a candidate who would earn the admiration of George Soros — a prominent and wealthy supporter who contributes to progressive candidates, gaining aversion by many on the political right.

To buttress his point, Harry recently posted on his social media accounts a Philadelphia Inquirer piece detailing protests by Pennsylvania residents calling on city officials to fight the drug trade in making neighborhoods easier. In posting the story, Harry compared Garza to the district attorney in Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, who many accuse of turning a blind eye to prosecuting drug crimes. "Soros-backed DAs like Krasner are putting lives at risk with their refusal to enforce the law," Harry wrote as headline to his post. "My opponent fully supports Krasner's policies."

Voters thus had a choice between candidates of ideologically disparate views, which may have yielded a barometer on future law enforcement practices in Travis County. Responding to growing calls for reform, the Austin City Council previously reallocated some $150 million from the police budget after a growing chorus of calls from residents demanding reform of local law enforcement. With their ballots, registered voters may have expressed a desire for similar oversight aimed at police reform from their district attorney.

Elections totals are total but unofficial tallies from the office of the Travis County clerk.