Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins is facing a strong challenge for his job in Tuesday’s election from former State District Judge Susan Hawk.
Watkins took office in 2007, riding a sudden surge of Democratic voting strength in Dallas County.
He gained national celebrity status with a series of exonerations of wrongfully convicted prisoners.
“He was a superstar,” said Dallas Morning News Political Writer Gromer Jeffers.
In his last campaign four years ago, Watkins raised around $1 million in contributions.
This time he had about a tenth as much for a campaign, trailing far behind Republican Hawk, who has raised around six times more than Watkins.
“I think that people that care about Dallas County are ready for a change and that’s why they’ve contributed to my campaign because they know we deserve better,” Hawk said.
Incumbent Watkins has been in the middle of several controversies in his second four-year term.
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The Dallas Morning News reports Watkins' office threatened Grand Jury Action against a towing company to recover a Porsche Boxster automobile the company removed from a courthouse parking garage where it had been abandoned for months.
The company could not locate the owner, which turned out to be a shadow company linked to the district attorney.
The car was evidently kept for undercover use.
A representative for Watkins said he disputes the newspaper story.
Watkins has also been criticized for using forfeiture money to settle claims over a car wreck he caused in a county vehicle while using his cell phone on the Dallas North Tollway.
The other driver was required to accept a non-disclosure of the settlement.
In September, the four Democrats on the five member County Commissioners Court refused to second Republican Commissioner Mike Cantrell’s motion to take action against Watkins over the wreck.
At the time, Watkins said the entire issue was a politically motivated attack.
“I can use that fund for statutory reasons. I did that. There was nothing hidden. I got out and admitted I had the accident,” Watkins said in September.
Thursday, Hawk took issue with Watkins' remarks about the wreck.
“The forfeiture fund is public money to be used for law enforcement purposes only, not a car accident or a car wreck,” Hawk said.
Jeffers said Watkins support has also faded among Democrats.
“He’s got in trouble with members of his own party by slating candidates against sitting judges, going after sitting judges, suing them, prosecuting them in court, all of that. And so that’s made it difficult for him,” Jeffers said.
Watkins claims he has reformed the Dallas County District Attorney’s office and put key people in top courtroom positions, even if he seldom appears in court himself.
Hawk said she has been at the Dallas County Courthouse for nearly 20 years, first as a prosecutor and then a judge.
“And I believe that Dallas County deserves a DA that has experience, a DA that can walk into the courtroom and try cases, a DA that has the trust of the legal community,” she said.
Even with a substantial lead in contributions, Jeffers said Hawk still faces a very difficult challenge in what has become a heavily Democratic County.
“Straight ticket voting, party line voting, is what puts these candidates over the top. What Hawk needs to do and what she’s trying to do is get some Democratic Party support,” he said.
Watkins achieved a very narrow victory four years ago and Jeffers predicts the results will be close again Tuesday.
“It’s going to be tough for her, but it’s also going to be tough for him. I think it’s going to be a long night for both of them,” he said.
Watkins was unavailable for comment Thursday. He has appeared on NBC 5’s Lone Star Politics program several times in the past year.
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In June he said this about Hawk:
“We have an opportunity here to move Dallas County forward and the fact that our opponent here in this election cycle continues to try to criminalize the first African American DA in the whole State of Texas, is unfortunate.”
