Local Texas law enforcement elections on the November ballot

With most voters focused on the presidential election, I thought it'd be worthwhile to scout about for news on the various law enforcement-related races in Texas, particularly in the largest counties.

The biggest prizes undoubtedly are the two top law enforcement spots in Harris County - Sheriff and District Attorney - whose jurisdiction is more populous than a majority of American states. Both incumbents are Republicans but the county's demographics have recently shifted strongly to favor Democrats. Incumbent Sheriff Tommy Thomas faces a strong Democratic challenger and suffers from what the Houston Chronicle called "the most troublesome year for the sheriff's department under his watch." I'm in the Anybody-But-Thomas camp on this one.

The Harris DA's race features former Houston police chief Clarence Bradford vs. a former judge, Pat Lykos - I was hoping for a Bradford v. Rosenthal dogfight this fall to keep us entertained, but Rosenthal's resignation this spring after a series of embarrassing revelations paved the way for this much tamer contest. Bradford is saying all the right things to attract my support, though I was no great fan of his tenure as police chief. (See Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center for coverage of the DA's race along with local judicial contests.)

I don't particularly have an opinion yet over which candidate would be better in the Dallas Sheriff's race. The Dallas News' endorsement of Republican Lowell Cannady was essentially a recitation of the failures of incumbent Lupe Valdez, most of which I'd agree with on its face. But Cannady has no experience that tells me he'll be able to step in and immediately run the jail any better than Valdez. What's more, even the News admits "she has shown some improvement." My concern would be that Cannady, or anybody, who didn't come straight outta jail management, would be able to step in to the Dallas jail's byzantine problems without a steep learning curve the county can ill afford. Things are a big mess there right now, and not all the fault falls on the Sheriff's shoulders. But Valdez's reign has been disappointing, so I'd be open to hearing more specifics from Cannady to convince me he has a vision of where to take the department and how to get there.

I've seen virtually no coverage of the Bexar County Sheriff's race, but the clear choice in terms of what's best for the county and its jail overcrowding crisis would be Dennis McKnight, the GOP candidate and former First Assistant Bexar County DA who managed the jail day-to-day under the previous Sheriff. McKnight exhibits a profound understanding of the system's problems. Even better, he's not afraid to propose bold solutions (he was an early backer of the idea for giving citations instead of arresting for low-level misdemeanors). He would step in on day one with innovative plans to reduce jail overcrowding, knowing exactly where are the levers of power within the organization and how to operate them - skills Lupe Valdez in Dallas, for example, hasn't been able to master in four years. Go Dennis!

There's a contested, open Sheriff's slot in El Paso which, like in Bexar, has received only sparse news coverage (that I've seen) so far. Unlike some other Texas counties, El Paso's jail problems aren't the only dominant issue, though still an important one, because the Sheriff provides plenty of actual on-the-ground enforcement in rural areas. I know little about either candidate. Democrat Richard Wiles is a former El Paso police chief who won his primary despite opposition from the local police union because of "tough discipline standards" when he ran the place. That doesn't sound too bad. The Republican, George Stoltz, was an El Paso police officer for 18 years befor spending "the last 18 months in Iraq as a contracted police adviser." His website contains more information about Iraq than his plans or El Paso. I'd be interested in learning more about the candidates from any readers following the race.

Out in East Texas there's a contested Sheriff's race in Gregg County (Longview) that received good coverage in The East Texas Review. The Democrat in the race criticized a long-term undercover drug sting targeting multiple, mostly black offenders for two years before securing a single arrest (they finally busted everyone at once in a big roundup). His concerns mirror those of theoreticians concerned that widespread use of confidential informants may actually increase crime, declaring, "Gregg County has the highest crime rate of any county in east Texas with drug dealers selling drugs for 2 years ever before there was a raid. During this time he said, 'Burglary increased.'" I'm particularly glad to see a critique of such common but problematic tactics making its way into electoral debates in a Sheriff's race.

Who do you support in these races and what other contested Texas Sheriffs or DA elections are you watching this November?