AUSTIN, Texas — Travis County District Attorney José Garza is confident his position will be secured come March 5.
Garza, who is seeking reelection, will go against Democratic challenger Jeremy Sylestine – an attorney and former prosecutor for the district attorney's office.
On Saturday, Garza touted his accomplishments as district attorney while also promising to strive for more public safety in the community. Garza met with supporters at Pease Park and spoke briefly to a crowd.
"I'm really excited about the progress that we've made over the last three years," Garza said. "To begin to fix our broken criminal justice system and to reduce our reliance on incarceration, but also improve the safety of our community."
Garza pointed to low crime and homicide rates while speaking on certain projects his office has in the works.
"We are just beginning a firearms surrender protocol project that would be a joint set of rules between law enforcement judges and prosecutors so that we all know how to and win to get guns out of the hands of people who pose a danger to our community," Garza said.
Garza was elected in 2020 and received pushback from the Austin Police Association when it came to the indictments of police officers – specifically cases from the 2020 protests that were mostly dropped in December 2023.
"I know that there is a great distance between the men and women who put themselves in danger every day for our public safety and their Republican leadership," Garza said. "So we're going to continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners despite the partisan attacks."
At a campaign event of his own earlier in the day, Sylestine credited his time served at the district attorney's office, along with opening his own private practice, as standout reasons to be picked for the job.
"I think the difference is that I have actually been in front of Travis County juries before," Sylestine said. "I know what it takes to be a trial lawyer. Jose Garza has only been a politician and a bureaucrat."
When it comes to trials, Sylestine argued that the district attorney's office success rate over the past several years has fallen short.
"Hope to bring back to the office is just smart, common sense prosecution that takes into account the traditional Travis County values of progressive prosecution," Sylestine said.
The Democratic challengers both agree the safety of the community is at the top of their priorities. The two will continue to stump across Austin as the primary election inches closer.
Garza is expected to host a formal neighborhood campaign event on Feb. 18. Early voting begins Feb. 20.