Margaret Moore (Texas)

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Margaret Moore
Image of Margaret Moore
Prior offices
Travis County District Attorney
Successor: José Garza

Elections and appointments
Last election

July 14, 2020

Margaret Moore (Democratic Party) was the Travis County District Attorney in Texas. Moore assumed office in 2017. Moore left office on December 31, 2020.

Moore (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Travis County District Attorney in Texas. Moore lost in the Democratic primary runoff on July 14, 2020.

Elections

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Travis County, Texas (2020)

General election

General election for Travis County District Attorney

José Garza defeated Martin Harry in the general election for Travis County District Attorney on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of José Garza
José Garza (D)
 
69.8
 
396,970
Image of Martin Harry
Martin Harry (R)
 
30.2
 
171,469

Total votes: 568,439
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Travis County District Attorney

José Garza defeated incumbent Margaret Moore in the Democratic primary runoff for Travis County District Attorney on July 14, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of José Garza
José Garza
 
68.1
 
83,248
Image of Margaret Moore
Margaret Moore
 
31.9
 
38,982

Total votes: 122,230
(100.00% precincts reporting)
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Travis County District Attorney

José Garza and incumbent Margaret Moore advanced to a runoff. They defeated Erin Martinson in the Democratic primary for Travis County District Attorney on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of José Garza
José Garza
 
44.3
 
81,152
Image of Margaret Moore
Margaret Moore
 
41.1
 
75,353
Image of Erin Martinson
Erin Martinson
 
14.7
 
26,870

Total votes: 183,375
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Travis County District Attorney

Martin Harry advanced from the Republican primary for Travis County District Attorney on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Martin Harry
Martin Harry
 
100.0
 
35,316

Total votes: 35,316
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2016

See also: Municipal elections in Travis County, Texas (2016)

Travis County held elections for county commission, all five constables, county attorney, sheriff, county tax assessor-collector, and the Austin Community College District Board of Trustees in 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and a primary runoff took place on May 24, 2016. The filing deadline for those wishing to run in this election was December 14, 2015.[1] Margaret Moore defeated Maura Phelan in the Travis County district attorney general election.[2]

Travis County District Attorney, General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Margaret Moore 66.05% 289,213
     Republican Maura Phelan 33.95% 148,667
Total Votes 437,880
Source: Travis County Clerk, "Travis County Election Results," accessed November 8, 2016

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Margaret Moore did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Moore's campaign website stated the following:

Margaret Moore is leading the fight for criminal justice reform. These are some of her highest priority issues that she has worked on during her first term.
Fighting Against Mass Incarceration
Margaret is ensuring that Travis County’s criminal justice system adopts reforms to treat young people and those with substance abuse issues progressively. She believes that substance abuse should be handled as a public health issue and not a criminal justice burden.

To fight mass incarceration, D.A. Moore has:

  • Increased the use of diversion for drug cases.
  • Expanded diversion opportunities for first-time and youthful offenders.
  • Reduced the number of people being incarcerated for felony offenses in order to stop mass incarceration.

Ending Cash Bail
Margaret is leading current efforts to ensure that no one stays in jail in Travis County just because they are poor. She knows that the only people who should be in our jail are those who are a threat to our safety or who have a high risk of failing to appear for court proceedings. Margaret has long stood for and supported Travis County’s commitment to the use of personal recognizance releases instead of forcing folks to resort to cash bail. Counties all over Texas look to Travis County as the model for ending cash bail.

Holding Police Officers Accountable
As D.A, Moore personally oversees officer involved shooting reviews. She also established a Civil Rights Division that conducts independent investigations of officer-involved shootings and serious non-lethal use-of-force incidents. Plus, she created a Civil Rights Advisory Council that includes members from across our diverse community and to give feedback on the actions of the Civil Rights Division and other matters regarding criminal justice reform. Finally, the new Civil Rights Division has a Conviction Integrity Unit that reviews possible cases of wrongful conviction.

Increasing Sexual Assault Prosecutions
Under Moore’s leadership, the DA’s Office now has an Adult Sexual Assault Unit, which has devoted more dedicated resources — prosecutors, an investigator, two victim counselors — to assist with these important cases. Since the unit was created:

  • More cases have been received from law enforcement, more indictments have been returned, and more cases have proceeded to pleas or findings of guilt.
  • The number of jury trials for these cases has increased dramatically

Prioritizing Domestic Violence Crimes
Margaret created a Family Violence Unit with dedicated domestic violence prosecutors. Now every single district court has a domestic violence prosecutor. The Family Violence Unit has handled over 3,500 cases and has given survivors a voice.[3][4]

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Rosemary Lehmberg
Travis County District Attorney
2017-2020
Succeeded by
José Garza (D)