Former felony court Judge Amber Givens’ stunning defeat of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot in the Democratic primary has set off sharply divided reactions, with supporters celebrating her upset and detractors questioning whether she is prepared to run one of Texas’ largest prosecutor’s offices.
What led to the surprising win remains a matter of debate. Some pointed to the county’s long history of successful female candidates, a surge of new primary voters, many drawn by U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s entry in the Democratic Senate primary, and Givens’ strong social media following.
No Republicans entered the race so Givens, 46, will go into the November general election unopposed. She’s scheduled to make her first public comments at an 11 a.m. news conference Thursday.
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Givens faced scrutiny last year after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public reprimand and an admonition, citing conduct that included allowing a staff member to impersonate her during a 2021 bond hearing and taking action in cases after she had been recused. She appealed the sanctions.
A trial on that was held last week before a Special Court of Review at the state Supreme Court in Austin, but it could be several weeks before the three-judge panel issues a decision.
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“I absolutely think she was underestimated,” said Chris Wesley, a longtime friend who worked on Givens’ campaign. “She’s been consistently focused on doing the work rather than playing politics and I think the vote showed that.”
Amanda Branan, former president of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said she’s “gotten a lot of phone calls. There’s a lot of people freaking out.”
“It’s scary to think she’s going to be the next district attorney. She couldn’t even run her court very efficiently and now she’s going to be the DA? It’s upsetting that somebody who has treated people with such disrespect in her courtroom and has been so untruthful has won.”
Among Branan’s concerns is the potential loss of talented prosecutors in the DAs office, either through resignations or Givens “cleaning house.”
“Even before the election, they (local prosecutors) were talking about how they’re going to need to find jobs if she gets elected,” Branan said.
Attorney Bruce Anton said Thursday he was still trying to comprehend how Givens’ won.
“I just can’t understand what would make some people vote that way,” Anton said. “Clearly, Creuzot was the most qualified candidate. He’s done an amazing job. I’m not aware of anyone criticizing anything his office has done. If he didn’t get every endorsement, he certainly got the lion’s share of them.”
Givens worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney before entering the local political scene more than a decade ago, when she and several other women were elected to the Dallas County bench.
She has attracted a significant social media following since then, and continued to build on it during her campaign.
“She has a very big following,” said Dallas criminal defense attorney Andrew Wilkerson, who hosts a podcast called The Not Guilty Boyz with fellow attorney Michael Campbell. The two lawyers interviewed Givens on one of their episodes, and heaped praise on her throughout the broadcast.
“I wasn’t surprised at all” by Givens’ win, Campbell said. “I thought she had a good chance from the beginning.”
Creuzot, 68, largely relied on his record in office, a sizable fundraising advantage and support from many local and state leaders.
“We ran a strong campaign focused on more regular Democratic primary voters,” said Jeff Dalton, a Democratic Party consultant who managed Creuzot’s campaign. “The election ended up being more than double the normal turnout. That made the outcome more unpredictable.”
Final results released Wednesday showed Givens gathering nearly 20,000 more votes than Creuzot. Numbers released after the polls closed Tuesday showed her leading throughout the night and into Wednesday morning.
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Givens didn’t join the race until three months ago, when she resigned from the 282nd District Court to run for district attorney. She faced an uphill battle from the start against the well-known, two-term incumbent.
Creuzot’s campaign took in about $420,000, while Givens’ only collected around $20,000, online campaign finance records showed.
And Creuzot had the backing of Democratic leaders locally and across the state as well as national recognition that came last month when he joined a coalition of prosecutors targeting federal officers who violate state law.
“Everyone’s talking about it because it’s a big change,” longtime Dallas criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Toby Shook said Wednesday about Givens’ win. “But that’s politics. Courthouses change all the time. We’ve had four different district attorneys over the last 20 years.”
While Givens has a poor reputation among most of the Dallas County Bar Association lawyers, who routinely gave her poor marks in their bar polls, there have been others who have described her as a fair judge.
An attorney called to testify during last week’s trial about how she had chastised him during a court hearing said he always felt both sides would be treated equally in her court.
Creuzot conceded the race and issued a statement after the final results were released in which he thanked supporters, voters and his family, and congratulated Givens.
“While the outcome was not what we had hoped for, I am proud of the work my team accomplished and the important conversations we advanced about justice, accountability, and public safety in Dallas County,” he said.
Creuzot’s term will end Dec. 31. He hasn’t announced what his plans are moving forward but said in his statement that “this is not the end of our work” and that he plans to continue serving the people of Dallas County.