Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot entered the Democratic primary Tuesday with a high public profile, a commanding fundraising edge and a challenger dogged by disciplinary findings.
Creuzot is seeking a third term. He campaigned on his record of creating programs that divert defendants with mental health and substance abuse problems to treatment rather than jail, seeking ways to reduce jail overcrowding and investigating wrongful convictions. Last month, he joined a national coalition of prosecutors targeting federal officers who violate state law.
Creuzot faced former felony court Judge Amber Givens, who received two sanctions last year from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which she is appealing, and earned low approval ratings from the Dallas Bar Association during her 11 years on the bench.
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In July, the judicial conduct commission gave Givens a public reprimand after finding that she had allowed a court coordinator to preside over a virtual bond hearing in her place. The commission also admonished her after determining she had taken action in two criminal cases after she had been recused from them.
Givens has said she believes her state sanctions were driven by the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in response to changes she had made that the group disagreed with.
Online campaign finance reports showed Creuzot far outpaced Givens in fundraising, collecting about $420,000 compared to around $20,000 for Givens.
In the predominantly Democratic county, no Republicans ran for the office.