Incumbent José Garza has won his bid for a second term as Travis County district attorney, according to unofficial election results.
Garza finished with 355,513 votes compared to his opposition Criminal Defense Attorney Daniel W. Betts’ 170,554, or 67.58% to 32.42% respectively.
“[I’m] really excited that throughout this election season and tonight, that our community reaffirmed, convincingly, their desire for a criminal justice system that treats everyone the same, regardless of race, ethnicity, income or walk of life,” Garza told Community Impact.
He explained that the initiatives he began with his first appointment will require more time to achieve the most meaningful impact.
“Over the last four years, we have started the work of building a criminal justice system that treats survivors of sexual assault with dignity and respect, and as a result, sexual assault convictions are up, but we have so much work to do to really live up to that aspiration,” Garza said.
Garza also highlighted his efforts in early gun violence prevention, including organizing Travis County’s first gun violence summit in 2021 as well as advancing the newly approved hospital-based gun violence intervention program, which, according to local officials, aims to “disrupt cycles of gun violence.”
All results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
Updated 11:47 p.m. Nov. 5
Polling results have been updated but remained consistent since the initial update on early voting results released Nov. 5.
Preliminary results indicate that a majority of voters support incumbent José Garza’s bid for a second term as Travis County district attorney.
Unofficial voting results so far show that Garza continues with a strong lead over his challenger, Criminal Defense Attorney Daniel W. Betts, with 338,931 total votes compared to Betts' 160,408—or 67.88% to 32.12% respectively.
Not all Travis County Election Day votes have been counted as of 10:54 p.m. Nov. 5.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Posted 7:35 p.m. Nov. 5
Incumbent José Garza is leading the race in an effort to win a second term as Travis County’s District Attorney with 68.57% of the early vote, based on unofficial results released Nov. 5.
Initial results reported by Travis County show Garza with a strong lead over his challenger, Criminal Defense Attorney and University of Texas at Austin graduate Daniel W. Betts, with 302,359 total votes compared to Betts' 138,572.
All results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
For context
Garza was elected as Travis County District Attorney in 2020, succeeding Democrat Margaret Moore. In his tenure, Garza has focused on reducing gun violence and providing justice for sexual assault survivors. He increased the size of the Victim Services Division and helped resolve a pair of lawsuits that revealed the Austin Police Department mishandled rape test kits and often closed cases without making any arrests.
With over a decade of experience in criminal defense law, Betts has focused his career on the criminal justice landscape in Travis County. As District Attorney, his priorities would include expediting case processing, increasing the number of jury trials, strengthening partnerships with law enforcement, reducing crime and murder rates, rebuilding trust between the DA’s office and crime victims, and eliminating political influence from the justice system.
The district attorney for the 53rd Judicial District serves as the chief prosecutor for felony criminal cases, responsible for gathering criminal evidence and presenting cases to a grand jury if there are grounds for prosecution.
One last thing
Throughout early voting, there were 480,364 ballots cast countywide, representing 51.93% of Travis County's 925,685 voters.
Totals from ballots cast Nov. 5 have yet to be released. Polls closed at 7 p.m., although voters who were in line at 7 p.m. were still able to cast ballots.
As of 7:06 p.m., there were still 6 polling locations in Travis County with over 50 minute waits.
