Travis County DA race: Democratic candidates agree safety of community is top priority

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza is standing by his conviction record, but his challenger Jeremy Sylestine, a former prosecutor, believes he is a better fit for the job. Both democratic challengers, however, do agree the safety of the community is a top priority.

Sylestine is running to unseat Garza and is calling for change.

"He does not have the capability, he doesn't have the knowhow, and he certainly doesn't have the credibility now to come back and say that he can do a good job," Sylestine said.

"It is easy to play Monday morning quarterback from your couch but for the last three years, we have been doing this work, making the hard decisions, holding people accountable and improving the safety of our community," Garza said.

Sylestine is currently a defense attorney, but was with the Travis County District Attorney’s office for 15 years. He left during Garza’s term.

"I thought that there were a lot of good minds in the office and people who had been doing it a long time who knew what the prosecution was about and especially in front of Travis County juries, and it seemed like Garza's administration really didn't want to have an appreciation of that," Sylestine said.

Garza was elected in 2020 after promising criminal justice reform, to hold people accountable who commit violent crime, and to prosecute sexual assault cases.

"The work that we have been doing with our community is making a real impact," Garza said.

During his tenue, a Travis County Grand Jury indicted 21 Austin police officers on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for protester injuries during the 2020 demonstrations related to the killing of George Floyd. The District Attorney’s office dismissed 17 of those cases.

"We made the decision that it was not just to prosecute line officers when their leadership was shielded from prosecution by their own delay in investigating these crimes," Garza said. "We continue to pursue the truth. We will continue to pursue justice for the victims of those crimes and that's what we're going to do."

"Someone who comes in who doesn't know criminal law and who has never worked in a courtroom before can't expertly put together a criminal case and when something falls apart like that, it really says, I don't know what I'm doing," Sylestine said.

Sylestine said he has tried more than 75 cases. His experience has drawn support from ring-wing donors.

"The support that I have, I would say, is broad, and it's local. We have a lot of Travis County supporters who are just concerned citizens who say, I care about what's happening in Travis County, and I see it with my own eyes, and I want to do something about it, and I'm okay with that," Sylestine said.

"They are propping up an opponent who means to take us back, who they are investing in so that they will have a district attorney who does not stand up for the values of this community, but our community won't be fooled," Garza said.

In a deeply blue county, whoever wins the democratic primary is likely to win the general election. The republican candidate on the ballot is Daniel Betts.

Early voting ends next Friday. Election day is Tuesday, March 5.