Despite Being Vastly Outspent by Challenger, José Garza’s Progressive Message Still Has Austin’s Support

District Attorney José Garza in December 2023 (photo by Jana Birchum)

Travis County’s incumbent District Attorney José Garza prevailed over his well-funded challenger Jeremy Sylestine in a decisive victory in the March 5 Democratic race.

Garza ended the night with a 33% lead over Sylestine, according to unofficial results posted by the Travis County Clerk’s Office. The result represents a commanding victory for the progressive D.A., who has been the target of right-wing attacks since emerging as a serious threat to prior D.A. Margaret Moore in 2020. Sylestine, who mounted a challenge to Garza late in the candidate filing period for the primary, was supported by moderate Democrats like Moore, Republican donors and voters, the Austin Police Association (APA President Michael Bullock has been present for campaign events), and late in the game, even Elon Musk.

In the 2020 election, which was held during the pinnacle of the 2020 summer of protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Garza defeated Moore – an establishment figure well-liked by law enforcement – by more than 30 points. Since then, Garza has not faced a public test of how Travis County residents view his progressive, and somewhat controversial, approach to the top law enforcement job in the county. His term has been defined by efforts to divert more people from jail, pursuing shorter prison sentences in some cases, and prosecuting law enforcement officials accused of using excessive force on-duty.

But Garza has now replicated 2020’s resounding victory – in a less favorable election environment, no less – which he said signals broad support for those policies that have drawn the ire of high-powered Republicans, including lawmakers who passed legislation last year to force D.A.s to prosecute abortion and anti-LGBT cases. “Our movement is stronger even now than when we started,” Garza told supporters from the stage at Hotel Vegas, about two hours after polls closed and it was clear he had fended off Sylestine. “Let me say this: Our movement to fix our broken criminal justice system is here to stay.”

In his remarks to supporters, Garza referenced another prominent aspect of the race – the coalescing of Republican support around Sylestine and the infusion of extreme, right-wing messaging in support of Sylestine’s campaign. “Anonymous dark-money organizations spent untold dollars promoting lies and peddling misinformation to try to scare voters into turning their backs on progress,” Garza told supporters. “In the face of those negative attacks, it would have been understandable for us to lose heart and give in to that fear and intimidation but ... this community didn’t take the bait.”

The “dark-money organization” Garza referenced was Saving Austin, an unregistered political action committee based out of the Dallas suburb of Irving. A week before election day, Saving Austin mailed Travis County voters a campaign ad in support of Sylestine that featured an adult hand covering the mouth of a child and a message saying Garza’s policies have “filled Austin’s streets with pedophiles and killers.” The shocking ad roiled Austin’s mostly liberal Democratic voting base and prompted Sylestine to issue a statement disavowing the message and declaring his campaign had no part in crafting or transmitting it.

Jeremy Sylestine at his election night party March 5 (photo by Austin Sanders)

Even without accounting for outside expenditures, Sylestine vastly outspent Garza; a Feb. 26 campaign finance report from Sylestine shows more than $1.2 million in expenditures by his campaign. The massive financial support came mostly from wealthy Austinites and high-dollar GOP donors. A report from Garza covering the same time period shows about $137,000 in expenditures.

Shortly after early vote results were posted and it was clear Garza had amassed an insurmountable lead over Sylestine, the challenger told the Chronicle he was proud of the “moderate message” he campaigned on around public safety, but regretted that “extreme” messaging drowned it out. “We had a moderate message that got hijacked by people that had different intentions,” Sylestine told us. “I was never one to come in and try to divide the party, but there’s a lot of space that’s been ignored in that moderate area.”

It is possible the extreme messages turned off some voters. Garza not only did well in East Austin, where his base of support lives, but even in most of Central and large parts of West Austin, where Sylestine’s financial support centered.

Sylestine’s campaign featured support from Travis County crime victims who were displeased with their interactions with Garza’s office. Sylestine said he hopes the incumbent, who will serve another four years as D.A., will listen to those concerns. “I hope he can do that in a way that honors his campaign and creates a conversation in the future.”

As for Garza, he told us that he’s looking at continuing to make progress on reforming the local justice system. “Travis County is one of the safest communities in the country and we’re going to continue full speed ahead,” Garza said. “We are working to address the root causes of crimes in our community because we know that that approach works, and we know that people support it overwhelmingly. So that’s what we’re gonna continue to do.”

Garza will face off against Daniel Betts, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, in the Nov. 5 general election. Because more than two-thirds of Travis County voters typically vote Democratic, Garza is almost certain to win.