The winner of tonight’s Democratic runoff for Dallas County Clerk will face Republican Skye Garcia in the Nov. 3 general election for the office responsible for more than 1 billion county records ranging from misdemeanor, probate and civil court case files to vital statistics and government documents.
The race pits Damarcus Offord, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit official, against Dallas County court coordinator Ann Marie Cruz.
Offord has significant backing from the Democratic establishment, with dozens of endorsements from elected officials and community leaders, including U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. Cruz earned support from two attorneys’ organizations during her campaign.
In the March 3 primary, Cruz had a 10,000-vote lead on Offord, but a third candidate earned enough votes to prevent anyone from reaching the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff.
The winner in November will succeed County Clerk John Warren, a Democrat who has held the seat for 20 years.
Warren withdrew his bid for a sixth term on the last day of the filing period in December and endorsed Offord, his mentee, who then entered the race.
Offord works as senior manager of state relations for DART. He previously led Dallas ISD’s intergovernmental relations department and served as a staffer for the late U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson.
If elected, Offord said he intends to continue modernizing the office’s functions and improving public outreach and education.
Cruz began working for the county clerk’s office in 1986 as a bond forfeiture clerk, the beginning of a 40-year local government career. She became a misdemeanor criminal clerk before being promoted to chief clerk around 1990. In 2007, she moved out of the clerk’s office to become a court coordinator, where she remains today.
Cruz said she aims to boost the morale of county clerk employees, make the office more accessible for the public and improve operations with the jail. She said she also wants to improve operations for the attorneys who use the clerk’s office every day.