Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez filed Thursday to get her old job back, opposing Marian Brown who she endorsed as her replacement.
It is a showdown between political trailblazers who have won by wide margins in the past.
Valdez, who is also openly Gay, was the first Latina to help the Dallas County Sheriff position when she was elected in 2004.
“Employees, former employees, businesses, lawyers, several other folks have asked me to please come back and take care of issues. And there’s several issues that need attention,” Valdez said.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Current Sheriff Marian Brown was the first African American Woman to be Dallas County Sheriff. Brown filed her application to run for reelection in November.
She spoke with NBC5 in August about why she should keep the position amid rumors of a Valdez challenge.
“We’ve brought the department up to speed in many areas that we lagged behind. And as the second largest county agency in the state, we should be on the forefront. So, we have progressed toward that. So, yeah, I do believe that I have done the work,” Brown said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Valdez supported Brown as her replacement when Valdez resigned to run for Texas Governor in 2017. Valdez was soundly beaten by Governor Greg Abbott in 2018.
“And it was a wonderful experience. I’m sorry I lost, but you continue to learn from it,” Valdez said.
In Dallas County, the Sheriff supervises traffic enforcement on many area freeways and has a criminal investigation unit. A tremendous amount of time is spent running the Dallas County Jail which pressed close to capacity in 2023.
Brown said in the past that county computer problems were a factor in jail management.
Valdez said there are ways the sheriff could have better dealt with the issues.
The two trailblazers are now foes for the March election primary, which is the big contest in heavily Democratic Dallas County.
Brown did not return requests for comment Thursday.
The filing deadline is Monday, Dec. 11 so more candidates could still enter the race.
