Moore Concedes To Garza In Travis County DA Race

AUSTIN, TX — Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore conceded to challenger José Garza in the Democratic primary runoff election on Tuesday evening.

Just before 8 p.m., Moore congratulated political upstart Garza for his victory. Early voting had shown Garza with 68 percent of the vote to Moore's 32 percent.

“Over the last year, thousands of people came together to demand radical transformation to our broken criminal justice system,” Garza said in a prepared statement. “They know that our system doesn’t have to be broken. Tonight, our movement showed that we have the power to change our community for the better. Tonight in Travis County, the people chose bold reform. I want to thank all the people who made this election possible — the thousands of organizers who knocked doors when we could, who sent text messages and made phone calls and helped spread our shared message of change. This is your victory, your movement, and your night. Tomorrow, we start planning for November and for the hard work ahead, but tonight, we celebrate.”

Moore offered her successor congratulations in a prepared statement: "I want to thank the voters of Travis County for giving me the opportunity to serve our community over the last three years," Moore said in a prepared statement. "The District Attorney's Office has made significant improvements to ensure police officers are being held accountable, to prioritize the prosecution of sexual assault cases, and establish new diversion programs for first-time offenders. I'm very proud of the progress we have made thus far. Congratulations to my opponent for his victory tonight. I wish him well in the future."

With his win, Garza now goes on to compete against Republican Martin Harry.

The group Austin DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) of which Garza is a member released a statement: "DSA member José Garza’s decisive victory in today’s run-off election against incumbent Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore is a victory for the working class and for the socialist movement. Incumbent Democrat Margaret Moore has been an exceptionally bad district attorney. Moore has shown callous disregard for the victims of police terror in Austin, egregiously mishandled prosecution of sexual assault cases, and pursued racist drug enforcement policies that target people of color."

By contrast, Garza "...is a former public defender and current director of Workers Defense Project who will use his position to end cash bail, end prosecution of drug offenses, and hold killer cops accountable."

Austin DSA explained the machinations behind Garza's win: "Garza’s victory was won by the broad working class coalition that has cohered around demands to defund the police and radically transform our criminal justice system," the statement read. "His movement campaign won endorsements from national figures like Senator Bernie Sanders, local unions, including Education Austin, the Austin Firefighters Association, IBEW Local 520, organizations ranging from Austin DSA to Workers Defense Project, and local leaders such as criminal justice advocate Chris Harris and Council Member Greg Casar."

The backdrop of civil unrest as demonstrators decry police abuse loomed large in the race for Travis County District Attorney. Political upstart Garza emerged amid the unrest with a message of law enforcement accountability and police reform. From that climate, Garza implausibly emerged from the nonprofit Workers Defense Project nonprofit he headed in advocating for immigrants, construction workers and other residents traditionally disenfranchised.

Throughout his political run, he made reform of law enforcement the single defining issue of his campaign.

Moore sought to retain the seat she had held since 2016. In light of the growing call for law enforcement oversight, Moore yielded a stark contrast from Garza given a record of clearing officers involved in police shootings by opting not to have grand juries empaneled. That record came into greater focus amid civil unrest in the form of protests in downtown Austin over recent deaths at the hands of police.

At the height of protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Moore said she would seek a grand jury investigation to look into the fatal shooting of Michael Ramos in South Austin that had taken place a month before. It was a departure for Moore, who had opted not to pursue investigations into officer-involved shootings 25 times while in office, according to information the DA's office supplied to Patch upon request.

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