On the campaign trail for Dallas County district attorney, the candidates have spent as much time attacking each other as they have debating policy.
Republican candidate Susan Hawk has cast incumbent Democrat Craig Watkins as unfit for the job 鈥� a partisan politician with questionable ethics.
Watkins casts Hawk as a desperate politician who will do anything to get elected.
He says he鈥檚 proved himself in the job as DA.
"Over those eight years, we鈥檝e improved the crime rate, made Dallas citizens safer, and had a historic number of exonerations," Watkins says. "We have exonerated 35 individuals for crimes they didn鈥檛 commit.鈥�
Experience In The Courtroom, Experience On The Job
Watkins says his two terms as DA makes him the best candidate. Hawk says her experience in the courtroom makes her more qualified.
She鈥檚 been elected three times as judge, and before that Hawk was a decorated Dallas County prosecutor and deputy chief of the child abuse division.
鈥淥ur current district attorney hasn鈥檛 tried a felony case as a lead prosecutor," Hawk says. "How can you possibly understand what the issues are or what鈥檚 happening in the courtroom if you are not an expert in criminal law?"
Hawk says if elected, she will build on the county's that Watkins created. That unit has become a national model for freeing those who have been wrongly convicted.
In response, Watkins says Hawk could have focused on exonerations as a judge, but she chose not to.
"Why would someone be better than me to basically continue to do what we鈥檝e done over the last eight years?" Watkins asks.
Controversies In The Spotlight
While Watkins has increased transparency within the district attorney鈥檚 office, critics accuse him of covering up his own controversial car crash in 2013.
Watkins used $50,000 of forfeiture funds to settle the accident. That money is normally reserved for law enforcement purposes. He also asked the other driver not to speak with the press. Watkins denies any wrongdoing.
"This is just another opportunity for those individuals who had been in power for so long to take their courthouse back," he says. "What they don鈥檛 realize is that Dallas County has changed."
Republicans see in Hawk their best chance to win a countywide race in a county where Democrats hold all the seats. In 2010, Judge Danny Clancy almost beat Watkins. Hawk thinks she can pull it off this time, and hasn鈥檛 been shy about criticizing the district attorney. At a recent debate she suggested he鈥檇 been drinking; he said that wasn鈥檛 the case.
"That was a comment that was made in jest," Hawk says. "The reason why I鈥檓 running is because I believe Dallas County deserves so much better. And they deserve a district attorney who has experience, integrity that has been in the trenches and understands what the community deserves. And I definitely believe I am the right person for that job.鈥�
Watkins called her remark about having a drink shallow.
Personal drama and mudslinging aside, if Hawk wants to win, she鈥檚 going to have to get thousands of Democrats to split straight tickets, or get more Republicans to vote. The question for voters is whether they want something new.
