By Olivia Biliunas
WASHINGTON, DC – Across the country on Super Tuesday, voters continued to show their support for reforming prosecutors’ offices, according to criminal justice reform advocates, who charge these elections have shown that voters are in support of a fairer justice system and with that, public safety and criminal justice reforms are being prioritized.
In Travis County, in Austin, Texas, voters reelected Jose Garza by a 2-1 vote. Garza, first elected four years ago, said he would “support survivors of sexual violence, hold police accountable, and end the war on drugs.”
An opponent backed by Elon Musk and a dark-money group from Irvine, TX, put out false advertisements about Garza, claimed reformers, like claiming Garza filled “Austin’s streets with pedophiles and killers.”
Luz Moreno-Lozano from kut.com, also wrote that this “effort was an attempt by would-be Republican spoilers to ‘scare voters into turning their backs on progress.’”
Reformers at Wren Collective and Prosecutors Alliance said, in Harris County, Texas, Kim Ogg was not reelected after an eight -term. The statement also mentioned that Kim Ogg was “an opponent of bail reform” and that she was “engaged in tough-on-crime messaging along with attacks on progressive allies at the County Commission.”
Voters, instead, backed Sean Teare who led by 50 percentage points, and has “promised to support changes to the cash bail system, stop prioritizing drug possession prosecutions, and fight at the legislature against bills that harm pregnant people and trans families.”
George Gascón in Los Angeles County leads in the election results and stated in an NBC news report, “This campaign is not about me, this is a community movement.” Gascón has faced numerous attacks from challengers the day he took office…his opponents in total raised over $5.5 million dollars compared to Gascon’s $440,000, said Wren Collective and Prosecutors Alliance.
Gascón, in an ABC news report by Irene Cruz and Carlos Granda, said, “My message to the community is, if I am granted another term, we’re going to continue to work hard, we’re going to continue to evolve, and we’re going to hopefully get to creating a criminal justice system that is not only fair and equitable but is much more efficient, more effective than we’ve had in the past.”
The news report also said that, in November, Gascón is to face Nathan Hochman.
According to Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance, “Today’s elections show that communities across the country continue to support district attorneys who are committed to a new vision of prosecution that both enhances public safety and advances justice. We congratulate the reformers who won their primaries today and stand with the voters who have stated clearly that the status quo isn’t working for them.”
Julia Brown, principal at the Wren Collective, said, “The results of these elections show that people want a fairer justice system, even when faced with fear tactics that resemble those used in the 1990s. Voters of today recognize that safety comes from investing in communities, not simply throwing people in prison.”
