Democratic voters in Harris and Travis counties overwhelmingly supported District Attorney candidates backed by New York-based liberal megadonor George Soros in last week’s primary elections.
The victories of candidates Sean Teare in Harris County and Jose Garza in Travis County make it possible for four of Texas’ five largest counties to have a Soros-backed District Attorney next year.
Texas has been a top target for Soros, who has spent tens of millions of dollars across the country in support of District Attorney candidates who share his vision for so-called “criminal justice reform” policies that critics argue favor criminals and make communities unsafe. As previously reported by The Texas Voice, Soros contributed over $2.5 million to liberal political action committees in Texas last year.
In Harris County, challenger Sean Teare defeated incumbent District Attorney Kim Ogg by a 75-25 margin. Teare enjoyed the support of the Harris County Democratic establishment, receiving endorsements from Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, State Representative Gene Wu, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and other Democratic leaders.
During the campaign, Teare and his allies criticized Ogg for bringing charges against three of Judge Hidaglo’s former staffers for their alleged roles in a bid-rigging scheme to benefit a Democratic political consultant. In addition to an investigation involving her role in the alleged bid rigging, the Texas Rangers are also investigating Hidalgo for abuse of office after she used County resources to hold a press conference where she announced her endorsement of Teare and opposition to Ogg in the Democratic primary.
The Soros-funded Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC spent over $1.5 million supporting Teare in the Democratic primary. Teare currently works as a criminal defense attorney at the Cogdell Law Firm in Houston. The Cogdell Law Firm represented Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial last year, and was paid $250,000 by Paxton out of his campaign account in July. The Cogdell Law Firm also represents Paxton in his felony securities fraud case, which is set to go to trial next month. Teare will face Republican Dan Simons in the general election.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza fought back a challenge from former prosecutor Jeremy Sylestine by a 67-33 margin. Garza was first elected to office in 2020, defeating sitting Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore by a 68-32 margin in the 2020 Democratic primary runoff election with significant financial backing from Soros.
Sylestine, who raised approximately $1.6 million, attempted to portray Garza as soft on crime and “dangerously lenient” towards violent criminals. Some Republican voters in Travis County took to social media to say they had crossed over to vote in the Democratic primary for Sylestine.
In his 2024 Democratic primary re-election campaign, Garza received $100,000 from the WFP National PAC, which is affiliated with the far-left Working Families Party. At the end of last month, Soros’ Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC donated $175,000 to the WFP National PAC.
Garza will face Republican Daniel Betts in the general election.
Soros also played a crucial role in electing Democratic District Attorneys in Dallas and Bexar Counties in 2022. The Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC spent nearly $2 million to elect John Creuzot as Dallas County District Attorney and Joe Gonzalez as Bexar County District Attorney in the 2022 general election.
Should Teare and Garza be successful in November, four of Texas’ five largest counties would be represented by a Soros-funded Democrat District Attorney. The fifth county, Tarrant County, is represented by Republican District Attorney Phil Sorrells.
