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District Attorney election in Travis County, Texas (2020)

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Travis County, Texas, elections, 2020
District Attorney
Other races
Sheriff, county court at law, county attorney, tax assessor-collector, commissioners, constable for precincts 1 through 5, and judgeships
Primary: March 3, 2020
Primary runoff: July 14, 2020
General election: November 3, 2020
Last election: 2018

José Garza (D) defeated incumbent Margaret Moore (D) in the July 14, 2020, Democratic primary runoff for Travis County District Attorney. Garza received 68% of the vote to Moore's 32%.[1]

Both candidates advanced to the runoff after neither won 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary. During that election, Garza received 44.3% of the vote to Moore's 41.1%. A third candidate, Erin Martinson (D), was eliminated after receiving 14.7% of the vote and endorsed Garza.[2] The race attracted national attention after presidential candidates Bernie Sanders (I) and Elizabeth Warren (D) endorsed Garza.

Moore, who was first elected in 2016, said she was running to continue initiatives she launched during her first term, including reducing the number of prison sentences sought for drug offenses, reducing the use of cash bail, and expanding the resources dedicated to prosecuting sexual assault cases.[3] Moore's endorsers included the Austin American-Statesman, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D), seven members of the state legislature, and Austin Mayor Stephen Adler.

Garza, who, at the time of the 2020 election, headed the Workers Defense Project, said he wanted to fix what he believed was a broken criminal justice system. He said he was running against Moore because of how her office had handled sexual assault cases. Garza also said that African Americans and Latinos made up a disproportionately large part of the prison population nationwide and that in Travis County, over 70% of jail inmates had not been charged with a crime.[4] Garza's endorsers included The Austin Chronicle, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I) and Elizabeth Warren (D), and the Working Families Party.

Both Garza and Moore shifted their focus towards remote organizing, including phonebanking and online campaigning, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.[5][6] Moore announced a series of policy changes to reduce the size of the jail population in response to the pandemic, including a temporary suspension of arrest warrants and issuance of automatic personal bond for certain non-violent offenders.[7] Garza released an open letter critical of Moore's policy changes and calling for a halt to arrests except in cases of ongoing risks to public safety, the immediate release of offenders who are not considered a threat to public safety, and ensuring that hygiene products are provided to prisoners free of charge.[8]


Click here for more on other county elections.

Candidates and election results

Primary runoff

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Travis County District Attorney

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of José Garza
José Garza
 
68.1
 
83,248
Image of Margaret Moore
Margaret Moore
 
31.9
 
38,982

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 122,230
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Primary

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Travis County District Attorney

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of José Garza
José Garza
 
44.3
 
81,152
✔
Image of Margaret Moore
Margaret Moore
 
41.1
 
75,353
Image of Erin Martinson
Erin Martinson
 
14.7
 
26,870

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 183,375
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Noteworthy primary endorsements

This section includes noteworthy endorsements issued in the primary, added as we learn about them. Click here to read how we define noteworthy primary endorsements. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please email us.

Runoff endorsements

Endorsements made after the March 3 primary and ahead of the July 14 runoff are shown in the table below. The "Previous endorsee" column shows when a runoff endorsement came from a person or group that endorsed a different candidate in the primary election.

If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please email us.

Democratic primary runoff endorsements
Endorsement Moore Garza Previous endorsee
Elected officials
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D)[9] ✔ --
Individuals
Former 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro (D)[10] ✔ --
Former 2020 District Attorney candidate Erin Martinson (D)[2] ✔ --

Primary endorsements

This section contains endorsements issued before the March 3 primary.

Democratic primary endorsements
Endorsement Moore Garza Martinson
Newspapers and editorials
The Austin American-Statesman[11] ✔
The Austin Chronicle[12] ✔
Elected officials
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)[12] ✔
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)[12] ✔
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D)[13] ✔
Individuals
Austin, Texas NAACP President Nelson Linder[14] ✔
Organizations
Center for Popular Democracy Action[12] ✔
Laborers International Union of North America[12] ✔
Working Families Party[12] ✔

Campaign themes

See also: Campaign themes

Margaret Moore

Moore's campaign website stated the following:

“

Margaret Moore is leading the fight for criminal justice reform. These are some of her highest priority issues that she has worked on during her first term.
Fighting Against Mass Incarceration
Margaret is ensuring that Travis County’s criminal justice system adopts reforms to treat young people and those with substance abuse issues progressively. She believes that substance abuse should be handled as a public health issue and not a criminal justice burden.

To fight mass incarceration, D.A. Moore has:

  • Increased the use of diversion for drug cases.
  • Expanded diversion opportunities for first-time and youthful offenders.
  • Reduced the number of people being incarcerated for felony offenses in order to stop mass incarceration.

Ending Cash Bail
Margaret is leading current efforts to ensure that no one stays in jail in Travis County just because they are poor. She knows that the only people who should be in our jail are those who are a threat to our safety or who have a high risk of failing to appear for court proceedings. Margaret has long stood for and supported Travis County’s commitment to the use of personal recognizance releases instead of forcing folks to resort to cash bail. Counties all over Texas look to Travis County as the model for ending cash bail.

Holding Police Officers Accountable
As D.A, Moore personally oversees officer involved shooting reviews. She also established a Civil Rights Division that conducts independent investigations of officer-involved shootings and serious non-lethal use-of-force incidents. Plus, she created a Civil Rights Advisory Council that includes members from across our diverse community and to give feedback on the actions of the Civil Rights Division and other matters regarding criminal justice reform. Finally, the new Civil Rights Division has a Conviction Integrity Unit that reviews possible cases of wrongful conviction.

Increasing Sexual Assault Prosecutions
Under Moore’s leadership, the DA’s Office now has an Adult Sexual Assault Unit, which has devoted more dedicated resources — prosecutors, an investigator, two victim counselors — to assist with these important cases. Since the unit was created:

  • More cases have been received from law enforcement, more indictments have been returned, and more cases have proceeded to pleas or findings of guilt.
  • The number of jury trials for these cases has increased dramatically

Prioritizing Domestic Violence Crimes
Margaret created a Family Violence Unit with dedicated domestic violence prosecutors. Now every single district court has a domestic violence prosecutor. The Family Violence Unit has handled over 3,500 cases and has given survivors a voice.[15][16]

”

José Garza

Garza's campaign website stated the following:

“

Our community is safer when we focus our efforts and resources on solving the serious crimes like murders and sexual assaults that cause real harm and far too often have gone unsolved. Our community is stronger when we keep communities together, instead of setting bail that places a price tag on people’s freedom, a price on freedom, that they cannot afford. And our community stands together when we show that no one is above the law and that everyone can be held accountable, no matter their position and authority. These will be my priorities as your District Attorney:

1. Our criminal justice system weighs most heavily on working-class people and people of color—it doesn’t have to be that way.
We will not keep people in jail just because they’re poor.
Pretrial Justice Institute found that “81 percent of Texas registered voters believe the wealthy enjoy substantially better outcomes in the criminal justice than poor and working-class people. Majorities also agree that community-based supports are more fair than money bail[.]”

Yet right now, 70% of the people that are in our Travis County Jail have not been convicted of any crime—nearly all are there because they can’t afford to pay bail. The social costs of cash bail—the loss of housing, employment, and family—are devastating for people who simply don’t have big enough wallets to buy their way out. The Travis County District Attorney’s office can no longer be morally complicit in this practice.

As District Attorney, I will advocate to end cash bail in Travis County. No person should be held in our jail only because they can’t afford to buy their way out.

Treat substance abuse as the public health crisis it is.
The revolving door of justice for people with substance abuse issues is a waste of time, money, and prosecution resources. The latest medical research on addiction suggests that treating drug use as a public health issue, as opposed to a criminal justice issue, is a more effective approach to reducing harm and promoting public safety. Nevertheless, our jails and prisons are filled with people who have done nothing more than suffer from addiction.

As a result, this office will seek to pursue policies that reduce the number of people in jails and prisons for drug-related offenses. We also have a responsibility to prevent deaths—safe injection sites and harm reduction programs are key to keeping our most vulnerable alive.

Unless there is evidence that a person poses a danger to the community, I will not prosecute sale or possession of a gram or less of narcotics. For possession or sale of larger amounts of narcotics, my office will consider all appropriate diversion programs so that person may avoid a conviction if they are not a danger to the community.

Expand diversion programs.
A felony conviction, even without a jail sentence, can be devastating. It can have a life-long impact on employment, housing, immigration, student loans, driver’s licenses . . .the list is endless. These impediments do not make us safer—instead, they create circumstances that only make it more likely a person will re-offend. Existing diversion programs often cost money in order to participate and complete and have onerous requirements that render success nearly impossible.

Our office will expand eligibility for diversion programs, and we will take away impediments to participation so more people can be successful in the programs. A person will never be denied access to diversion due to an inability to pay.

Treat kids like kids.
Young people are developmentally different than adults. But far too often, our criminal justice system wants to treat kids like adults despite substantial evidence proving the treating kids like adult offenders is detrimental to their development and ineffective as a deterrent to crime. The Travis County District Attorney’s office oversees all juvenile cases. At the discretion of the District Attorney, for certain crimes, a child may be charged as an adult.

As District Attorney, I will oppose transferring children to the adult system. I will also advocate for home-based alternatives to detention for kids.

Protect immigrant communities.
The job of the prosecutor is to ensure that justice is delivered equally, regardless of place of birth. We will create a DA’s office that considers the impact of charges and convictions for families and communities, and ensures that the sentence imposed is not unduly harsh for any class of people.

In order to regain trust in the criminal legal system, by both victims and the accused, we will create an immigration task force composed of directly impacted people and policy experts to help Travis County move forward in making this a place anyone can call home.

By treating all people equally, we will help restore trust in some of our most forgotten communities.

2. We can restore trust in our District Attorney’s office by ensuring that our criminal justice system reflects the values of our community.
Treat crime survivors with dignity and respect.
For too long, Travis County has ignored the needs of survivors of sexual assault and has not prioritized their needs. As District Attorney, when faced with a person who committed a violent act, our first question will be: how can we make sure that it doesn’t happen again?

We will prioritize survivors by providing them what they need, both in terms of services and for the criminal case itself, so that they are not re-traumatized by the system.

We will pursue restorative justice.
Restorative justice recognizes that crimes can cause harm to victims, and our justice system must work to repair that harm. With the cooperation of all parties, transformation and healing can occur.

Travis County deserves to have a robust restorative justice program, and we will partner with interested stakeholders to create one here.

Implement community task forces.
We will engage all members of the community—everyone who cares about our community, anyone directly impacted by the criminal legal system, our entire immigrant community, survivors of crime and their families, civil rights groups, law enforcement, defense attorneys, and prosecutors—to join us in making our vision for Travis County a reality. This new vision of reform cannot succeed without community input, and we will create task forces to not only inform our office on policies, but to hold this office accountable to the community.

  • I will appoint a community task force who will be responsible for reviewing all drug arrests to ensure that my commitment not to prosecute these cases is being upheld, and who will work with public health officials to divert resources from the District Attorney’s Office for treatment. This task force will also consider all budget requests made by my office, and will prioritize budgeting money for treatment outside of the criminal justice system rather than enlarging our office.
  • I will appoint an immigration task force, who will be charged with ensuring that the office policies on immigration are fully implemented, and to keep the office informed of any policy changes with ICE locally that should be addressed by this office.
  • I will appoint a police misconduct task force, who will independently review any police misconduct cases that are not indicted out of the grand jury or where there is an acquittal at trial, to ensure that the office has followed best practices and prosecuted these cases to the full extent of the law.

Focus resources on powerful actors who have abused public trust.
No one should be above the law, no matter how rich they are or just because of their job title. We will use our resources to investigate and prosecute the powerful actors in Travis County who have harmed the public—landlords who exploit immigrants, police officers accused of misconduct, and corporate heads who take money from the poor will no longer have a free pass in Travis County. We will reverse the current policy of not presenting cases involving law enforcement to a grand jury unless there is approval first by the District Attorney Office.

Instead, the Travis County District Attorney Office will actively investigate and prosecute powerful actors who have abused their positions. Police misconduct cases will be independently investigated, and all cases will be presented to the grand jury for review.

While the majority of law enforcement officers do their jobs with honor and dignity, for the few who we deem as unreliable witnesses due to previous misconduct, we will commit to not relying on their testimony in court (a “no call” list).

3. Together, we will reimagine justice in Travis County.
We will not withhold information from those we prosecute.
The accused should know what the evidence is (discovery) before having to make critical decisions, and the law agrees. Unlike the current policy of waiting until certain types of cases have been indicted before disclosing discovery, my office will adopt an open file discovery policy that will apply after arrest allowing people accused of crimes to make fully-informed decisions every step of the way.

We will not rely on civil asset forfeiture without a conviction.
The state should not be permitted to keep a person’s property if they believe it was used in criminal activity without first proving beyond a reasonable doubt there has been a crime in a court of law. Unless there has been a conviction in a case, my office will return the property.

We will fight for change in Texas.
Travis County should be a criminal justice reform leader across all of Texas. The legislature is only steps away from the District Attorney’s Office, and we need to have a voice advocating for legislative changes that support our reform agenda.

As your District Attorney, I will use the tremendous platform prosecutors possess to advocate for criminal justice reform and work with on-the-ground criminal justice reform advocates to help them advance important legislation like marijuana decriminalization, bail reform, forfeiture reform, fines and fees, and state jail felony reforms.

We will never seek the death penalty.
The Death Penalty is morally and ethically wrong, does not serve as a deterrent, has proven to be applied arbitrarily at best, and comes at tremendous financial costs.

As District Attorney, I will not seek a death sentence. I will also review all post-conviction death penalty cases to ensure that there are no forensic, evidentiary, or legal issues that should cause the conviction to be called into question.

We will believe all people have value and can change.
Bryan Stevenson has said, “[E]ach of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” I agree. A criminal act should not define a person for the rest of their lives. We will work to ensure that those we lock up are incarcerated for as short as is needed to protect our communities and support those who have reformed themselves in returning home. Excessive sentences with little to no chance of release on the horizon do not actually keep us safe; it just leads to countless people who are no longer a danger to society in our jails and prisons. By the time individuals reach their thirties, their odds of committing future crimes drop dramatically and recent studies have determined that whether a person is over the age of 50 is the “the most important predictor of lower recidivism rates.”

Accordingly, asking for any sentence longer than 20 years will be the exception. Also, my office will advocate for the release of all parole eligible people in prison over the age of 50 who no longer pose a danger to the community. Lastly, we will proactively seek out those our office has incarcerated who have been rehabilitated to assist them with returning to the community.[17][16]

”


Debates and forums

June 29 candidate forum

Moore and Garza participated in a virtual candidate forum hosted by KXAN on June 29, 2020. Click here for coverage of the forum.

Runoff elections in Texas

In Texas, a primary election candidate for congressional, state, or county office must receive a majority of the vote (more than 50%) to be declared the winner. If no candidate wins the requisite majority, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters.[18]

As of 2020, the Texas Secretary of State office stated, "There is no requirement to have previously voted in the general primary election in order to participate in the subsequent primary runoff election. Therefore, if a qualified voter did not vote in the general primary election, they are still eligible to vote in the primary runoff election." The office also stated that "if a voter votes in the primary of one party, they will only be able to vote in that party’s primary runoff election. ... After being affiliated with a party, a voter is not able to change or cancel their party affiliation until the end of the calendar year."[19]


About the county

See also: Travis County, Texas

The county government of Travis County is located in Austin, Texas. The county was first established in 1840.[20]

County government

See also: Government of Travis County, Texas

Travis County is overseen by a five-member commissioners court. Four commissioners are elected by district to four-year terms. The head of the commissioners court, the county judge, is elected county-wide. Residents also elect a county attorney, district attorney, county clerk, district clerk, county sheriff, county tax assessor-collector, county treasurer, five constables, and five justices of the peace.

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Travis County, Texas
Travis County Texas
Population 1,290,188 29,145,505
Land area (sq mi) 994 261,267
Race and ethnicity**
White 69.3% 69.2%
Black/African American 8.3% 12.1%
Asian 6.8% 4.9%
Native American 0.6% 0.5%
Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.1%
Other (single race) 8.2% 6.2%
Multiple 6.7% 7%
Hispanic/Latino 33.6% 39.4%
Education
High school graduation rate 90.3% 84.4%
College graduation rate 51.5% 30.7%
Income
Median household income $80,668 $63,826
Persons below poverty level 11.4% 14.2%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

One of 254 Texas counties—0.4 percent—is a Pivot County. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Jefferson County, Texas 0.48% 1.61% 2.25%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Texas with 52.2 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 43.2 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Texas cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 66.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Texas supported Democratic candidates slightly more often than Republicans, 53.3 to 46.7 percent. The state, however, favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Texas. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[21][22]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 54 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 37.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 65 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 36.4 points. Clinton won 10 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 96 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 36.2 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 85 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 34.5 points.

See also

Travis County, Texas Texas Municipal government Other local coverage
Map of Texas highlighting Travis County.svg
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Travis County Clerk, "Democratic Party - Cumulative Results Joint Primary Runoff and Special Election," accessed July 14, 2020
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Twitter, "Jose for DA on March 11, 2020," accessed March 17, 2020
  3. ↑ Margaret Moore 2020 campaign website, "Issues," accessed February 26, 2020
  4. ↑ Jose Garza 2020 campaign website, "Our Broken System," accessed February 26, 2020
  5. ↑ Twitter, "Jose for DA on March 18, 2020," accessed April 27, 2020
  6. ↑ Facebook, "Margaret Moore for District Attorney on March 18, 2020," accessed April 27, 2020
  7. ↑ Twitter, "Margaret Moore on April 8, 2020," accessed April 27, 2020
  8. ↑ Squarespace, "Untitled open letter to Travis County officials," accessed April 27, 2020
  9. ↑ Twitter, "Jose Garza on June 23, 2020," accessed July 2, 2020
  10. ↑ Spectrum Local News, "Julián Castro Endorses Candidates Focused On Police Reform," June 8, 2020
  11. ↑ Endorsement: Embattled Moore offers reforms survivors need," February 20, 2020
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Jose Garza 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed February 26, 2020
  13. ↑ Margaret Moore 2020 campaign website, "Supporters," accessed February 26, 2020
  14. ↑ Margaret Moore 2020 campaign website, "Endorsement Shout Out: Nelson Linder," accessed February 26, 2020
  15. ↑ Margaret Moore 2020 campaign website, "Issues," accessed February 26, 2020
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  17. ↑ Jose Garza 2020 campaign website, "Platform," accessed February 26, 2020
  18. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Chapter 172. Primary Elections," accessed July 10, 2020
  19. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Election Advisory No. 2020-05," February 11, 2020
  20. ↑ Texas State Historical Association, "Travis County," accessed September 20, 2016
  21. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  22. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
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