One of the biggest races on the Travis County ballot this primary season will likely decide who is the next district attorney. On the Democratic side, incumbent José Garza faces challenger Jeremy Sylestine, an Austin-based attorney.
The race has been fraught the last couple of weeks, with the challenger outraising the incumbent and GOP interference in Travis County's Democratic primary. It's been messy and it's all coming to a head on Election Day. Let's take a look back at how we got here and what's next.
Garza has secured the backing of mainstream Democratic office-holders in Travis County, while Sylestine's gotten support from the city's police union and Save Austin Now, a group that pushed Austin to reinstate its penalties for sitting or lying down in public. Sylestine is also backed by a dark-money campaign that sent out mailers claiming Garza was "cutting deals with ... monsters," in reference to his plea bargains, and that "the next victim could be your loved one." Sylestine has told KUT he doesn't know Saving Austin, the group behind the campaign, and doesn't support its messaging.
Garza filed a cease-and-desist letter against the Irving-based group that sent out those mailers last week.
Campaign messaging aside, the race has become more or less a proxy battle, with Republicans — including Republican candidate Daniel Betts — pushing for Sylestine to oust Garza.
Sylestine has raised a lot of money. Many donors — particularly those dropping high-dollar amounts — have historically been supporters of Republican campaigns. A filing late last month showed Sylestine raised a whopping $1.2 million in campaign donations, compared to incumbent Garza's $204,000, according to Travis County.
Garza's campaign has gone as far as calling Sylestine "our MAGA opponent" in its fundraising asks, though Sylestine argues he's been a lifelong Democrat. Still, the Republican support is there and doesn't stop at donations.
https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-03-04/hardcore-republicans-are-voting-in-travis-countys-democratic-primary-heres-why
