Tarrant County D.A. Candidates Trade Charges

Here in Tarrant County, we have a re-run of the 2002 election for District Attorney. The Republican incumbent, Tim Curry, and his Democratic opponent, Terri Moore, faced off in one of the closest elections in Tarrant County in 2002, when Curry won with 53.8% of the vote. These same two candidates are running for Tarrant County District Attorney in this year's election.

Wednesday night, Curry and Moore participated in a public debate in Fort Worth sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. The candidates gave their campaign speeches, took questions from the audience, and were given an opportunity for rebuttal. It didn't take long for the debate to turn nasty.

Curry, who has held the office since 1972, criticized his former employee for representing a high-profile sex offender. He said, "I don't have a problem with her providing fair representation, but I find it odd that she talks about prosecuting the nation's largest child-porn case and then represents a notorious pedophile."

Moore countered that Curry rejects many cases presented to keep his conviction rate high, and gives preferential treatment to drunken drivers with political connections. Moore even suggested that these defendents get breaks because many prosecutors drink and drive, including Curry.

The two also squared off on just how the D.A. should do his job. Moore says that as the D.A., she would still try some cases in court. She said, "By staying fresh, you are teaching and mentoring young prosecutors. It is mainly a management position, but I think you can do that job and be a lead prosecutor on a case." Curry disagreed, saying, "I view my job as a administrator. If you do both, then you can't do either one very well."

In 2002, this was one of the nastiest and closest local races, and it looks like it is shaping up to be another close one. This is probably the Democrats best chance to win a county-wide race.